Akita
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46 free Akita trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Akita is the big spitz of northern Japan, bred from the Matagi hunters' bear dogs and fattened on samurai dogfighting, declared the country's first canine natural monument in 1931 and very nearly wiped out by wartime culls that left fifteen or sixteen purebreds alive. Its fame rests on one dog, Hachikō, who waited at Shibuya Station for nine and a half years after his professor died, and on Helen Keller, who carried the first two Akitas to America. These 46 questions cover the breed's history and its split into Japanese and American types: the Ōdate dog, the Satake clan, the Tosa crosses, the Dewa and Ichinoseki lines, the FCI's 'Great Japanese Dog', the fox head versus the bear head and the black mask that disqualifies one type but not the other. Then Hachikō in detail: the meaning of Hachi, the Asahi Shimbun article, the statue melted down a day before the surrender, the 2011 necropsy and the Richard Gere film shot in Rhode Island. Easy questions stick to Shibuya and Helen Keller; the expert tier asks about Morie Sawataishi, Kuma-kō and the Edo temple dog Moku. Every answer is cited to a page we checked.
30 of 46 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Akita traces its roots to the hunting dogs of which group in northern Japan's mountains?
The Matagi
The Matagi's dogs were only medium-sized: the Akita became a large breed later, when the dogs were crossed with bigger breeds for fighting.
Q 02In which region of Japan did the Akita breed originate?
Tōhoku, in the north
Tōhoku, in the north of the main island, includes Akita Prefecture, which gave the dog its name; its winters bring deep snow, which is why the breed wears a dense double coat.
Q 03What did the Akita's ancestors do for hunters on a bear hunt?
Held it at bay
Held it at bay: the dogs were not there to make the kill, only to track a bear through deep snow and pin it in place until the hunter caught up.
Q 04What was the Akita called, after its home town, until it was renamed in 1931?
Ōdate dog
Ōdate dog was one of several local names for the big guard and fighting dogs of Akita Prefecture; the 1931 name gathered them all under the prefecture's.
Q 05Which Olympic figure skating champion was given an Akita puppy named Masaru in 2018?
Alina Zagitova
Alina Zagitova received Masaru soon after winning in Pyeongchang: the breed's preservation society brought the puppy to Moscow, and Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, attended the handover.
Q 06Which world leader received an Akita puppy named Yume in 2012, a thank-you for aid after Japan's tsunami?
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin picked the name himself, the Japanese word for dream; when Japan offered a male companion for Yume in 2016, he turned it down.
Q 07What distinction did the Akita earn among Japanese dog breeds in 1931?
First breed designated a natural monument
First breed designated a natural monument, but only at the second attempt: a 1920 survey found the dogs too crossbred to protect, and nine carefully bred Akitas won the status in 1931.
Q 08Who founded the Akita Inu Hozonkai preservation society in 1927?
A town mayor
A town mayor, Shigeie Izumi, founded it because crossbreeding for the fighting pit had nearly wiped out the pure local dog; Japan's national society for native breeds followed a year later.
Q 09Crossbreeding with which fighting breed had muddied the Akita by the early 1900s?
Tosa
Tosa fighters reached the Akita's home town with touring dog-fight shows in the late 1800s, and crosses for stronger fighters followed; the prefecture banned dog fighting in 1908.
Q 10With which breed were Akitas crossed during World War II to escape a cull of non-military dogs?
German Shepherd
German Shepherd crosses were a dodge: police were seizing dogs so their fur could line army coats, and only the military's own breed was exempt.
Q 11Roughly how many purebred Akitas were left in Japan when World War II ended?
About 20
About 20, and by some counts only 15 or 16: a dog that size was almost impossible to feed in a starving country.
Q 12After World War II, the Akita spent nearly fifty years on which everyday Japanese item?
A postage stamp
A postage stamp: Japan put an Akita on its 2-yen stamp in 1953, while the breed was still being rebuilt after the war, and kept it there until 2002.
Q 13How did the puppy Hachikō travel from Akita to Tokyo in 1924?
By train, in a straw bag
By train, in a straw bag: after a winter journey of about a day the puppy reached Tokyo in such a state that he was at first taken for dead, and it took months to nurse him back to health.
Q 21Hachikō's famous bronze statue faithfully copies which flaw of the real dog?
A drooping left ear
A drooping left ear: it was the mark of a dog bite, not a birth defect, and sculptor Teru Andō chose to show the real, ageing Hachikō rather than a perfect show dog.
Q 22What happened to Hachikō's first bronze statue in 1945?
It was melted down for the war effort
It was melted down for the war effort on 14 August 1945, the day before Japan's surrender, despite a promise to keep it in storage; the bronze became locomotive parts.
Q 23A 2011 re-examination found Hachikō died of heartworm and what else?
Cancer
Q 14What was unusual about Hachikō's first statue when it was unveiled in 1934?
He was alive to attend
He was alive to attend: Hachikō sat beside his own bronze at the April 1934 ceremony, an honour almost unheard of for a living animal, and died the following year.
Q 15For roughly how long did Hachikō keep returning to the station after his owner died?
Nearly 10 years
Nearly 10 years: Hachikō kept his vigil from 1925 until his own death in 1935, at first chased off as a stray and only later fed and fussed over by commuters.
Q 16What did Hachikō's owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, do for a living?
University professor
University professor: Ueno taught agricultural engineering in Tokyo, and in 1984 his faculty's bronze bust of him was carried to Hachikō's statue so that the two could be reunited.
Q 17At which Tokyo station did Hachikō wait for his owner each day?
Shibuya
Shibuya has never let go of him: the exit beside his statue is officially the Hachikō Exit, and the bronze is one of Tokyo's best-known meeting spots.
Q 18What does the 'Hachi' in Hachikō's name mean?
Eight
Eight is certain; the reason is not. He is variously said to have been one of a litter of eight or to have had forepaws that splayed like the Japanese character for the number.
Q 19How did Hachikō's owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, die?
A brain haemorrhage at work
A brain haemorrhage at work took Ueno without warning on 21 May 1925; Hachikō, who had lived with him for little more than a year, is said to have refused food for days.
Q 20What suddenly made Hachikō famous across Japan in 1932?
A newspaper article
A newspaper article in the Asahi Shimbun did it: a dog expert who pitied the old Akita, then treated as a stray, sent in his story, and readers were soon bringing Hachikō food.
Cancer of the heart and lungs turned up when his preserved organs were re-examined; the yakitori skewers long blamed for his death had been in his stomach but done no harm.
Q 24Where is Hachikō's mounted pelt displayed?
National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, received his body within days of his death; two taxidermists shut themselves away for three months to make the mount, while his organs went to the University of Tokyo.
Q 25The 1987 Japanese hit film about Hachikō was officially remade in 2023 in which country?
China
China's remake moved the story to Chongqing and replaced the Akita with a native Chinese rural dog named Batong, so its Hachikō is not an Akita at all.
Q 26Who starred in the 2009 American film Hachi: A Dog's Tale?
Richard Gere
Richard Gere, who also produced the film, plays a commuter who finds a lost Akita puppy at his local station; the remake moves the story from 1920s Tokyo to modern New England.
Q 27Who made the replacement Hachikō statue that has stood in Tokyo since 1948?
The first sculptor's son
The first sculptor's son, Takeshi Andō, took on the job after his father was killed in a 1945 air raid; with bronze scarce, he gave up one of his father's own sculptures for the metal.
Q 28Which director, who later made A Dog's Purpose, directed Hachi: A Dog's Tale?
Lasse Hallström
Lasse Hallström's film never reached American cinemas: Sony released it straight to DVD at home, yet it took more than $45 million abroad.
Q 29Which famous American brought the first Akita to the United States in 1937 after a tour of Japan?
Helen Keller
Helen Keller had asked about Hachikō during her tour and said she would love an Akita of her own, so her hosts presented her with a puppy before she sailed home.
Q 30What does the name of Kamikaze-go, the first Akita to reach America, mean?
Divine wind
Divine wind: Kamikaze-go died of distemper soon after reaching America, so his brother, Kenzan-go, was sent from Japan to take his place.