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. For a while, the American strain of Akita was known in some countries as the Great Japanese Dog. During the early 20th century the Akita was in decline, as a result of being cross bred with the German Shepherd Dog, St. Bernard, Mastiff. As a result, a lot of specimens started to lose their spitz characteristics and instead took on drop ears, straight tails, non-Japanese color (black masks, and any color other than red, white or brindle), and loose skin. A native Japanese breed known as Matagi (hunting dog) was used along with the Hokkaido Inu breed to mix back into the remaining Akita Inu to bring back the spitz phenotype and restore the Akita breed.
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