In your “travels” as a student of dogs, you may encounter references to the “American Akita” and the “Japanese Akita,” but what does that really mean? Aren’t they the same breed?

American servicemen stationed in Japan during World War II saw their first Akitas when, as the story goes, the dogs came out of hiding from the hills of Japan and befriended the soldiers.  Was this true? We don’t know, but it’s said that American soldiers smuggled hundreds of Akitas out of Japan when they returned to the United States, preferring the larger, heavier boned, bear-like dogs, while Japanese enthusiasts preferred the lighter boned dogs with finer, fox-like heads. The two types began to diverge at the end of WWII, and the dogs that came back with the soldiers became the foundation for the Akita accepted by the AKC. That said, the AKC makes no distinction between the two types, they are both Akitas. Other countries have split the two into the American Akita (sometimes called the Great Japanese Dog) and the Japanese Akita. Each has its own FCI standard. 

Image of “Ying” and “Yang” Akitas is of an ornament which can be purchased here.