The Akita (秋田犬, Akita-inu, Japanese pronunciation: ) is a large breed of dog originating from the mountainous regions of northern Japan. There are two separate varieties of Akita: a Japanese strain, commonly called Akita Inu (inu means dog in Japanese) or Japanese Akita, and an American strain, known as the Akita or American Akita. The Japanese strain comes in a narrow palette of colors, with all other colors considered atypical of the breed, while the American strain comes in all dog colors. The Akita has a short double-coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds such as the German Shepherd or Siberian Husky, but long-coated dogs can also be found in many litters due to a recessive gene. The Akita originates from native Japanese dogs from the Akita Prefecture of northern Japan and go as far back as 1000 years. This breed in the 1600s was involved in dog fighting, which at the time was popular in Japan. From the 1500s into the 1800s, the Akita served as companions for samurai.