Its not easy importing, showing, and breeding a rare breed that isn’t recognized by the AKC. We wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the continued support of fellow Japanese Akita and Hokkaido enthusiasts. Our team consists of good friends who have the same goals and determination to preserve and promote the breed. They have supported us when times were tough, encouraged us when we needed it, and congratulated us when we deserved it. We value their honesty and our different preferences for type. Thank you to all who have made it possible to come this far, and to those who will continue making the future of Kaiju Kennels bright.

Tae Kyun Kim ‘Daijisou Japanese Akita’

I met Tim through a mutual breeder acquaintance. At the time, we had just imported our second dog, Ghidora, and Tim was excited to import his first puppy from a Korean breeder who owned other dogs from the same family. Tim and I shared a love and enthusiasm for this particular bloodline and hit it off right away. We began sharing notes on particular dogs and research into puppy development, showing, and breeding in general. Whenever one of us learns something new, we’re quick to share it with the other.

Tim happens to live close enough to come see us at any time and we proudly handled his bitch, Karin, in the JACA show in 2012. We assisted Tim with the import of another puppy from Japan and he in turn helped us import Bijo in 2012. He also made it possible for us to import Godzuki and Ebira as well. We work well together and have many of the same goals, so we look forward to future co-bred litters and stud services.

Special Thanks

We would like to extend a special thank you to Sean Nollan for his work on behalf of all Japanese Akita in the US. He is extremely dedicated to this breed and is instrumental in the continued development of the Japanese Akita Club of America here in California. He helps organize events, posts updates to the website and mailing list, and perhaps most importantly, takes hundreds of adorable puppy and show photos. He has become the unofficial photographer for JACA and we’re starting to learn a thing or two from him about taking good pictures. His work for the breed and club has not gone unnoticed, and in 2012 Sean became President of JACA. Congrats, Sean!

Sean was the driving force behind the recognition of the Japanese Akita by the United Kennel Club on February 11th, 2012. He managed to find time to work with the UKC representatives, drafting and submitting his proposal despite preparing for his own wedding at the end of January. We’re extremely grateful for all the work he did and look forward to showing and participating in UKC events in the future. This is the announcement:

We can now officially say that there are two breeds of Akita in the United States. The board and members of JACA would like to offer our sincere appreciation to the UKC for working with us on making our efforts a reality. This is an exciting time for all of us but especially for the Japanese Akita fancy in the US. We look forward to continued cooperation and progress to improve and preserve our breed.

Simply put we have a new home and a new breed: the UKC Japanese Akita.

We would like to give our heartfelt gratitude to Darvish Shin for his work finding imports for us and acting as translator and negotiator; we wouldn’t be here without him. A special thank you also to the breeders in Japan who support the US efforts for breed recognition and growth, including Koji Shirai, Keiichiro Kozaki, and Osamu Yamaguchi. Without the superb dogs they have allowed us to import, there would be no population of Japanese Akita in our country. Additionally, we’d like to thank Chris Campbell for his translations and Paul Chen for his work with the customs brokers.