Life-size granite statue of Shiba Inu Dog unveiled in Japan

A life-size granite statue of Ishi stands next to the house where he was born in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture. Arata Namima MASUDA, Shimane Prefecture -- There's a new hound on the scene with a story that could rival that of the legendary Hachiko, the dog immortalized by a bronze statue in Tokyo's Shibuya district.

The canine that is now known as Ishi was born in 1930. Its bloodline is responsible for all living Shiba Inu dogs, estimated at 600,000 around the world.

Hachiko was a Japanese Akita Inu dog who died in 1935 and is revered in Japan for the loyalty it showed by waiting for its owner to return home each day for years after the man died.

A life-size granite statue of Ishi is now standing beside the house where he was born. It is about 60 centimeters tall and 70 cm long and is mounted on a 60 cm-tall base.

A small memorial hall next to the house displays photos of the dog, documentation of his pedigree and a history of Shiba Inu, a much-beloved breed native to Japan.

Another statue was erected at the Yumotokan inn in the Mito onsen hot spring resort, which is close to Ishi's mountainous birthplace.

The pedigree certificate issued by the Japan Dog Preservation Society shows that Ishi was born on November 2, 1930 in the village of Futakawa present-day Mitocho district of Masuda.

According to Sekishuken Laboratory, a local group named after the indigenous breed of western Shimane Prefecture that has done a lot of research on Ishi, the dog was raised by a hunter named Nobuichi Shimoyama.

His grandson Hiroyuki Shimoyama, a 56-year-old construction carpenter, attended the unveiling ceremony of Ishi's statue on Nov. 2 with about 40 local residents.

After leaving Tokyo, Ishi returned home as a stone statue with a soul, said Shimoyama, who pledged to work with the community to pass down the statues and memorial hall as local treasures for future generations.

A Shimane Prefecture dog preservation society member who ran a dental clinic in Tokyo found Ishi in 1936. He brought the dog to Tokyo, where Ishi sired many offspring that led to the explosion of Shiba Inu today.

A local civic group called Nukumori no Sato Futakawa, which was established to revitalize the community in the face of declining population, raised donations from residents and companies to make the statue.

Its president, Takato Ushio, 69, learned in 2018 that Ishi's birthplace was in the Futakawa district. He came up with the idea of creating a stone statue of Ishi based on the only existing photo of the dog. It shows Ishi standing proudly from the side.

A local stonemason dissented from the proposal on grounds that thin legs would not support the bulk of the stone statue.

In March of last year, Ushio had Yokohama resident Masahiro Kamitori, 72. He has produced 200 stone statues of dogs and agreed to create one of Ishi.

Kamitori visited Masuda in April to get a better sense of the place where Ishi was born. He contacted the Shimane Prefectural branch of the dog preservation society to get the lowdown on Ishi's characteristics and the nature-rich environment in which he grew up.

Kamitori said that statues that are meant to last for 100 or 1,000 years were created by me. I hope that many people will visit the site. According to the dog preservation society, all Shiba Inu newly registered with the organization - slightly less than 30,000 a year - can trace their bloodlines back to Ishi.

Ishi was muscular with a strong build. He looked strong when he stood and had a wonderfully bristly fur, said Atsuo Yanao, 81, head of the Shimane branch of the society.