Origins of the Japanese Spitz – How Imported Dogs Became a Distinctly Japanese Breed

Whenever I tell someone that I breed Japanese Spitz, I often hear the same assumption: that this is an ancient Japanese breed which accompanied samurai for centuries or guarded the temples of Kyoto. The truth is far more fascinating. The origins of the Japanese Spitz can surprise even those who believe they know the breed well.

The breed itself was developed in Japan, but its foundation dogs came from abroad: from Europe, North America and Australia, with some historical accounts also pointing to Russian dogs brought through Manchuria. Their ancestors reached Japan by ship and rail. Japan did not discover the breed. Japan created it. It is this story – shaped by imported dogs, wartime upheaval and questions that remain unresolved to this day – that makes the Japanese Spitz truly remarkable.

The First White Spitz Dogs in Japan: A Genetic Mix from Around the World

The story begins in the 1920s. The large white German Spitz, or Grossspitz, is generally regarded as the principal ancestor of the breed. These dogs are believed to have reached Japan around 1920, travelling overland via Siberia and north-eastern China. But that was only the beginning.

According to one historical account, a Canadian relief ship arrived after the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, carrying aid as well as several white Spitz dogs, possibly related to the American Eskimo Dog. These dogs may have contributed to the breed’s early gene pool. What is officially documented is that two pairs of white Spitz were imported from Canada in 1925. Further imports followed from Canada, the United States, Australia and China until around 1936.

Some historical accounts add another strand to this story. During the 1930s, Japanese officers stationed on the Asian mainland are said to have brought small white Russian Spitz-type dogs, sometimes described as Laikas, back from Manchuria. Dogs of this kind had reportedly been kept as companions in affluent Russian households. If these accounts are accurate, the early Japanese Spitz population drew on a remarkably international mix of German, North American and Russian Spitz-type dogs, brought together on the other side of the world.

How Japanese Breeders Created an Entirely New Breed from Imported Dogs

This is where the most important part of the story begins. Simply bringing together white Spitz dogs from different countries was not enough to create a breed. What shaped them into the Japanese Spitz was the deliberate and consistent work of Japanese breeders.

Early accounts describe dogs that were considerably larger than the Japanese Spitz we know today. Some stood around 40 centimetres at the withers and weighed more than 10 kilograms. Japanese breeders set themselves a clear objective: to develop a compact, elegant dog ideally suited to companionship. Over successive generations, they crossed different lines of imported Spitz-type dogs and selectively bred for a smaller size. Their work eventually produced the modern breed, in which males stand 30–38 centimetres at the withers and females are slightly smaller. I describe the appearance of the modern Japanese Spitz, together with the requirements of the FCI breed standard, in a separate chapter.

Historical accounts suggest that early breeders developed two size varieties. The larger dogs were known as “samo”, a name derived from the Samoyed, while the smaller dogs were referred to simply as “Spitz”. It was the smaller variety that won the hearts of the Japanese public. By 1933, efforts to establish a consistent breed type were already well advanced. Breeders systematically selected against undesirable traits while strengthening the features that would become the breed’s hallmarks: its snow-white coat and distinctive fox-like expression.

As a breeder, I find this the most moving part of the story. The Japanese Spitz did not come into being by chance. The breed exists because dedicated breeders had a clear vision and worked patiently for years to bring it to life. To me, that is the essence of responsible breeding.

The War That Nearly Ended the Breed’s Story

The Second World War came close to destroying everything that had been achieved. The breeding programmes that had progressed so rapidly during the 1930s came to a complete halt. Non-working dogs were removed from households, and by the end of the war only a small number survived. Most breeding records were also destroyed by fire. As a result, the detailed history of the breed’s development before 1945 remains incomplete: the records that could have provided definitive answers simply did not survive.

In the years following the war, a new problem emerged. Historical accounts describe how soaring demand for Japanese Spitz led to widespread, uncontrolled crossbreeding. Japanese Spitz dogs were crossed with German Spitz, Samoyeds, American Eskimo Dogs and even white dogs of unknown ancestry. The breed was at genuine risk of losing the distinctive qualities that its breeders had worked so carefully to establish.

Fortunately, dedicated breeders stepped in to save the Japanese Spitz. Efforts to rebuild the breed began soon after the war, with the Tokyo, Kyoto and Nagoya regions playing an important role. Historical accounts describe how surviving dogs of breeding value were gathered from the areas to which they had been evacuated. A unified breed standard was established in 1948, laying the foundation for the modern Japanese Spitz. The organisation that would later become the Japan Kennel Club also began to take shape that year. It received official approval in 1949 and adopted the name Japan Kennel Club in 1952. According to breed histories, Hakuryū – “White Dragon” – born on 6 August 1947, became the first dog recorded in the official stud book. The official name “Japanese Spitz” – Nihon Supittsu in Japanese – was adopted in 1954.

The White Dog That Became a Symbol of Post-war Japan

What happened next was remarkable. Within fifteen years of the war’s end, the Japanese Spitz had become one of the country’s most popular breeds. Its popularity peaked in the late 1950s, and Japanese breed histories report that it ranked first in annual dog registrations in 1958. Some accounts put the number registered that year at close to 5,000. Even without complete surviving statistics, the scale and speed of the breed’s rise were extraordinary.

Why did the breed become so popular? Several factors appear to have played a part. In the uncertainty of post-war Japan, many households valued a dog that would alert them to intruders. Despite its modest size, the Japanese Spitz proved to be an effective watchdog, quick to sound the alarm. Its gleaming white coat also reflected the clean, modern and Western-influenced aesthetic of the period, helping the breed become associated with status and a new era. At the same time, it was valued as a clean, intelligent and manageable companion with little of the typical dog odour, making it well suited to family life. For families rebuilding their lives after the war, that was a compelling combination of qualities.

FCI Recognition and the Breed’s Journey Around the World

A major milestone came on 22 April 1964, when the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) recognised the Japanese Spitz on a definitive basis. The breed is listed under FCI Standard No. 262 and classified in Group 5, Spitz and primitive types, Section 5, Asian Spitz and related breeds. This recognition opened a new chapter in its history, helping the Japanese Spitz gain recognition far beyond Japan.

Sweden became an important gateway to Europe. In 1973, Swedish breeder Maj Andreasson encountered the Japanese Spitz at a JKC dog show in Tokyo and became involved in bringing the breed to Sweden. The country’s first recorded litter was born in 1974. From Scandinavia, the breed spread to the United Kingdom, where The Kennel Club accepted it into the Utility Group in 1977. Sources differ on the precise date of the earliest British imports, but established breeding began there in the late 1970s. One particularly charming detail from this period is that the breed reportedly found an unexpected following among British lorry drivers – an unlikely connection that has always made me smile. The first Japanese Spitz arrived in Australia in 1979, and the breed gradually spread to other countries, including Denmark.

The United States remains a notable exception. The American Kennel Club has not yet granted the Japanese Spitz full breed recognition. The breed entered the AKC’s Foundation Stock Service in April 2019 and remains part of the programme today. The FSS provides an official system for maintaining breed records and can form part of the route towards eventual recognition, but inclusion does not guarantee that full recognition will follow. The Japanese Spitz’s close resemblance to the American Eskimo Dog is often suggested as one reason for its unusual position, although the AKC does not state this as its official explanation.

The Japanese Spitz eventually reached Poland as well. But the story of how the breed became established here, and how the first dogs arrived at Polish kennels, deserves a chapter of its own.

The Debate over the Origins of the Japanese Spitz: Why the Sources Disagree

Read enough about the Japanese Spitz and you will soon notice that the sources do not always agree. This is no accident. As I explained earlier, many records from the breed’s formative years were destroyed by fire during the war, making it impossible to reconstruct its development with complete certainty. What remains are several different, and sometimes contradictory, theories. For anyone fascinated by the breed, this is where the story becomes particularly intriguing.

The official account presented in the FCI breed standard and by the Japan Kennel Club identifies the large white German Spitz as the principal ancestor of the Japanese Spitz. This is the most widely repeated explanation. However, some Japanese sources remain cautious, arguing that the surviving evidence is insufficient to prove that these dogs formed the breed’s principal foundation stock.

A second theory, supported among others by Japan’s Nippon Spitz Association and Italian author Marco Piasentin, places greater emphasis on North America. According to this account, some of the earliest white Spitz dogs brought to Japan came from North America and were American Eskimo Dogs, or dogs of that type. The close resemblance between the two breeds is also sometimes suggested as a possible reason why the American Kennel Club has not granted the Japanese Spitz full recognition, although the AKC does not present this as its official explanation.

The third theory points to Russian and Siberian roots, particularly the small white Laika-type dogs said to have been brought from Manchuria during the 1930s. Under this interpretation, the Japanese Spitz would be the product of Russian and North American Spitz-type dogs, rather than simply a Japanese offshoot of the German Spitz.

Finally, we come to the most contentious question: the Samoyed. This is where I need to set the record straight, because the supposed connection is one of the most persistent myths surrounding the Japanese Spitz. Early Japanese Spitz were indeed referred to in Japan as “small Samoyeds”, but the name reflected their superficial resemblance – above all, their white, fluffy coats – rather than proving that the Japanese Spitz descended directly from the Samoyed. Marco Piasentin regards direct descent from the Samoyed as the least convincing of the proposed theories. His argument rests largely on the considerable differences in size and bone structure between the two breeds. A typical Samoyed weighs several times as much as a Japanese Spitz and has a substantially heavier frame. Although both share the characteristic features of Spitz-type dogs and a white coat, they differ markedly in size, build and original purpose. I examine the differences between the Japanese Spitz and the Samoyed in detail in a separate article.

Less widely accepted theories have also been proposed, including possible ancestry involving the Keeshond, a breed traditionally associated with the Netherlands, or even a remote evolutionary link to the prehistoric peat dog. These ideas, however, remain speculative and are not supported by conclusive evidence.

What, then, can we conclude from all of this? There is no single, definitive answer to the question of where the Japanese Spitz came from. That is why, when someone asks me about the breed’s origins, I do not recite a neat, one-sentence explanation. I tell them the whole complex and fascinating story. To me, the uncertainty surrounding those origins is part of what makes the Japanese Spitz so remarkable.

Key Dates at a Glance

If I had to identify the key milestones that shaped the breed, I would choose the following:

Around 1920 – The first large white German Spitz dogs are believed to have arrived in Japan via Siberia and north-eastern China.
1923–1925 – One historical account describes white Spitz-type dogs arriving on a Canadian relief ship after the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923; the import of two pairs from Canada is documented in 1925.
1948–1952 – A unified breed standard was established in 1948. The organisation that would later become the Japan Kennel Club received official approval in 1949 and adopted its present name in 1952.
1954 – The official breed name “Japanese Spitz” (Nihon Supittsu) was adopted.
1958 – Japanese breed histories report that the Japanese Spitz ranked first in annual dog registrations, with some accounts placing the total at close to 5,000.
22 April 1964 – The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) granted the Japanese Spitz definitive recognition.

To me, the history of the Japanese Spitz is far more than an interesting story. It is a reminder that every healthy, beautiful dog carries the legacy of decades of thoughtful breeding and of the people who refused to allow the breed to disappear. At Byakko Kitsune, we strive to continue that tradition with the same dedication, care and respect for the breed. If the Japanese Spitz has won your heart and you are considering welcoming one into your family, take a look at our puppies.

Sources

Official FCI Standard No. 262: Japanese Spitz (Nihon Supittsu)
Marco G. Piasentin, monograph on the Japanese Spitz
Miwako Okada, Spitz Bible
Japan Kennel Club (JKC), breed standard and official stud book
Nippon Spitz Association (NSA)
The Kennel Club, UK