The magnificent physical appearance of the Akita coupled with its loyal, steadfast temperament has ensured the breed's popularity outside its native home. America was the first country to adopt the Akita, and one of the first dogs to emigrate was Kamikaze (Divine Wind), which was given as a gift to Helen Keller. Helen, an American was blind, deaf and mute. She travelled the world teaching others who were similarly afflicted, to lead a fuller life. In the late Thirties she was lecturing in Japan and she expressed a wish to own an Akita. She had discovered the breed's rare quality of being able to communicate through body language. This is something apparent in all dogs, but most Akita owners would agree that the breed is peculiarly sensitive. For someone as disabled as Helen Keller, this extra degree of communication was all-important.

An officer in the police force, Ichiro Ogasawara, presented Miss Keller with an Akita in recognition of her work with the disabled. This was a rare and precious gift, for at this time there were very few of the breed left, save in their northern home of the Akita Prefecture. Kamikaze travelled to America with Miss Keller but became ill when he was only eight months old and died from distemper. In 1939 some friends in Japan sent her another Akita and the dog, Kenzan-Go, remained with Helen Keller until his death in the mid-Forties. In her characteristic gentle style, she referred to her Akita as an Angel in Fur.

The number of Akitas reaching the United States grew rapidly after the Second World War when servicemen who had been stationed in the Japanese Islands took dogs home with them. Some of these imports found their way to dog enthusiasts and these formed the basis for present-day Akitas, not only in America but in Canada, Australia, some European countries, including Scandinavia, the islands off America, Great Britain and its colonies. There were numerous lines of development stemming from these early imports, and these have been well documented. Today the influence of these early pedigrees is minimal and there are just a few old photographs that have survived. Many of the early dogs went to novices who did not understand about breeding livestock, and so lessons had to be learnt. Some did stick with the breed and eventually the numbers grew and some good dogs came to the fore. Breeding lines were established and a specialised club for the breed was set up. In 1955 the American Kennel Club gave permission for the Akita to be exhibited in their miscellaneous class, but it was seventeen years before it was given individual status.

It was comparatively soon after this official recognition that the first Akitas were imported to Britain in 1981. Skillful breeding in the United States had produced Akitas which were strikingly beautiful, and which carried the characteristics of the breed. But because their pedigrees were a mixture of all the early imports, there had not been enough time to remedy all the inherited faults or establish a perfect type. As a result there was a great diversity in the Akitas which arrived in Britain. Some representatives of the breed were exported direct from Japan, and in Scandinavia these formed the basis of their initial breeding stock. But British breeding lines can trace only two dogs which were imported direct from Japan.

Language difficulties have prevented a free exchange of information between Japan and countries that breed the Akita, and until recently, no one knew their response to the Western version of the Akita. Certainly, Western breeders have always tried to remain true to the Japanese origins of the breed, even though we have been using the Akita dog with American pedigrees. But now the latest word from Japan is that breeders are thinking of enhancing their own stock with Akitas that have been bred overseas. The Japanese Akita is certainly becoming an international dog, with many countries now playing a part in its future. Let us hope that the emigration of the breed to other lands will serve it well, and preserve the Akita in its purest form.