Kai Ken Glossary
英国甲斐犬倶楽部 Eikoku Kai Ken Kurabu - Kai Ken Club of Great Britain
Literal Translation ‘British Kai Ken Club’.
Literal Translation ‘British Kai Ken Club’.
General Terms
甲斐犬 - Kai Ken
甲斐犬愛護会 Kai Ken Aigokai/KKA - Kai Dog Protection Society
天然記念物 Tennen Kinenbutsu - Natural Monument
日本犬 Nihon Ken - Japanese Dog
日本犬保存会 Nihon ken Hozonkai/NIPPO - The Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog
中型犬 Chugataken - Medium Sized Dog
猪犬型 Shishi Inu Gata - Boar Type Dog
鹿犬型 Shika Inu Gata - Deer Type Dog
犬 Ken/Inu - Dog
犬舎 Kensha - Kennel/Dog House.
荘 Sou - Manor
号 Go
父 Chichi - Father
母 Haha - Mother
甲斐犬愛護会 Kai Ken Aigokai/KKA - Kai Dog Protection Society
- The Kai Ken Aigokai was formed in 1931 and is the founding preservation society for the Kai Ken.
天然記念物 Tennen Kinenbutsu - Natural Monument
- A Natural Monument of Japan is the term used to describe those designated as a significant cultural property of Japan under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. It is often mistranslated as 'national treasure'.
日本犬 Nihon Ken - Japanese Dog
- Nihon Ken refers to the six aboriginal Japanese dogs, the Akita, the Kai, the Kishu, the Hokkaido, the Shikoku and the Shiba.
日本犬保存会 Nihon ken Hozonkai/NIPPO - The Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog
- NIPPO was founded in 1928 to preserve and maintain the registries of the six Nihon Ken breeds. The Kai Ken was designated a Natural Monument by NIPPO in 1933.
中型犬 Chugataken - Medium Sized Dog
- Refers to the medium sized Japanese dog breeds, the Kai, the Kishu, the Hokkaido and the Shikoku.
猪犬型 Shishi Inu Gata - Boar Type Dog
- Refers to one of the two breed types of Kai Ken. The boar type dog is a bear faced dog used for hunting boar, featuring a stockier and heavier built dog.
鹿犬型 Shika Inu Gata - Deer Type Dog
- Refers to one of the two breed types of Kai Ken. The deer type dog is a fox faced dog used for hunting deer. The deer type has a thinner, lighter build with a longer body.
犬 Ken/Inu - Dog
- Both Ken and Inu mean dog, and are two readings of the same kanji. Ken ケン is the kun’yomi reading, while Inu いぬ is the on’yomi reading.
犬舎 Kensha - Kennel/Dog House.
- Often seen in older kennels, Kensha was used as a suffix in kennel names, but is less common in recent years due to being banned by some registries.
荘 Sou - Manor
- Used as a suffix in kennel names, it has become the preferred suffix over Kensha across most Japanese Dog registries.
号 Go
- Suffix that is an honorific used in the registered names of many Japanese dogs.
父 Chichi - Father
- Used to denote the sire of a dog.
母 Haha - Mother
- Used to denote the dam of a dog.
Coat Colours, Patterns and Types
STANDARD
虎 Tora - Tiger/Brindle
The Kai Ken is a brindle dog. The brindle in Kai is the black striping in the coat, the blacker the dog, the more dense the brindle.
裏白 Urajiro - White Underside/Countershading
有色 Yūshoku - Coloured
NON STANDARD:
白 Shiro - White (or Cream)
赤 Aka - Red (Sable)
黒 Kuro - Black (Black & Tan)
ピント Pinto - Piebald
モク Moku - Long Coat
虎 Tora - Tiger/Brindle
The Kai Ken is a brindle dog. The brindle in Kai is the black striping in the coat, the blacker the dog, the more dense the brindle.
- 赤虎 Akatora - Red Tiger/Red Brindle
- Akatora refers to a sparsely brindle dog, with more red than black coat.
- 中虎 Chūtora - Middle Tiger/Middle Brindle
- Chūtora refers to a medium brindle dog, with equal parts red and black coat.
- 黒虎 Kurotora - Black Brindle/Black Tiger
- Kurotora refers to a densely brindle dog with more black than red coat.
裏白 Urajiro - White Underside/Countershading
- Urajiro is an important part of the coat of Nihon Ken, and appears in all six breeds. In Kai Ken, urajiro appears under the brindle markings, as it does not affect the black hairs in the dog’s coat.
有色 Yūshoku - Coloured
- Yūshoku is a general term which refers to a coloured coat (as opposed to a white coat) in Japanese dogs. It is predominantly used to describe Kishu Ken rather than the other Nihon Ken breeds.
NON STANDARD:
白 Shiro - White (or Cream)
- Kai Ken may come in a recessive white coat. It is off standard in Kai.
赤 Aka - Red (Sable)
- Sable as it appears in Kai Ken, sometimes called dominant yellow, is another example of an off standard coat. Sable Kai appear red, with black banded hairs, without brindle markings. It is the same as red in other Japanese breeds, though red Kai tend not to have strong urajiro and may have a black mask.
黒 Kuro - Black (Black & Tan)
- Black and Tan has rarely been seen in Kai Ken. These dogs tend to have brindle tan points. The origins of this colour in the breed are unknown and it is an example of an off standard coat.
ピント Pinto - Piebald
- Pinto is the term used to describe piebald Japanese dogs. In Kai, it is typically expressed as white chest markings or feet, as opposed to a full white collar like in other Nihon Ken. A small amount of white on the chest is allowed in Kai, but a large patch or white feet is considered a fault.
モク Moku - Long Coat
- Moku dogs express a longer coat than normal, which is caused by a recessive gene. It is more commonly seen in Akita Inu and Shiba Inu, but it does appear in Kai Ken too. It is an example of a non standard coat in the breed.
Tail Types
差し尾 Sashi-o - Sickle Tail.
太刀尾 Tachi-o - Sword Tail
巻き尾 Maki-o - Curled Tail
- The tail is carried in a curl over the back, but the tip of the tail points forwards and does not touch or fall below the line of the back.
太刀尾 Tachi-o - Sword Tail
- Similar to sickle tails, the sword tail is carried in a slight curve and held straight up.
巻き尾 Maki-o - Curled Tail
- The tail is carried in a round, curled shape over the back with the tip of the tail touching, laying against or extending past the line of the back.
Temperament
Kan’i, Ryousei and Soboku appear in the NIPPO standard for Japanese Dogs, and refer to the essential qualities and essence of the Japanese dog, and are often considered more important than the look of the dog.
敢為 Kan’i - Daring
良性 Ryousei - Good Nature
素朴 Soboku - Simplistic
野生み Yaseimi - Wildness
威嚇 Ikaku - To Intimidate
威厳 Igen - To Intimidate
敢為 Kan’i - Daring
- A daring and brave dog who has spirited and dignified boldness. A well balanced temperament with confidence, but who is not aggressive.
良性 Ryousei - Good Nature
- A loyal and faithful dog with a gentle nature with their people. Nihon Ken bond fiercely to their people with loyal devotion.
素朴 Soboku - Simplistic
- A dog who has a natural beauty without being over the top and flashy. A dog who is rustic, modest and sincere.
野生み Yaseimi - Wildness
- The Kai Ken should have a sense of wildness to them.
威嚇 Ikaku - To Intimidate
- A dog who intimidates by using aggressive posturing or by threatening. This does not denote actual aggression and instead refers to the way a dog presents/postures itself in the show ring.
威厳 Igen - To Intimidate
- A dog who intimidates by using the aura of strength. This does not denote actual aggression and instead refers to the way a dog presents/postures itself in the show ring.
Showing
立ち込み Tachikomi - Standing Included
出来すぎ Dekisugi - Too Good to be True.
展覧会 Tenrankai - Exhibition
個体審査 Kotai Shinsa - Individual Judging
比較審査 Hikaku Shinsa - Comparison Judging
一席 Isseki - First Place
優良 Yuryo - Excellent
成犬 Seiken - Adult Dog
壮犬 Souken - Mature Dog
未成犬 Miseiken - Minor Dog
- The presentation of the Nihon Ken with a natural stack and leash pulled up at 45 degrees for best appearance of the head. The breeds should not be hand stacked or baited, and presented as naturally as possible.
出来すぎ Dekisugi - Too Good to be True.
- This refers to dogs which are very balanced or ‘complete’ at a young age. However once they finish maturing, they may lose that balance. Sometimes referred to as wet vs dry dogs. A wet dog will look ‘complete’ young and may often win awards in their youth. A dry dog will take much longer to mature, sometimes up to 4-5 years for them to be ‘complete’, but the end product of a dry dog is better.
展覧会 Tenrankai - Exhibition
- The Kai Ken Aigokai holds two exhibitions per year, one in spring (on the first Sunday in April) and one in fall (on the last Sunday of October).
個体審査 Kotai Shinsa - Individual Judging
- The first stage of judging the Japanese dogs, where the dog is individually evaluated by the judge.
比較審査 Hikaku Shinsa - Comparison Judging
- The second stage of judging the Japanese dogs, where all of the dog entrants are lined up to be compared to each other by the judge.
一席 Isseki - First Place
- First place winner of a class or show.
優良 Yuryo - Excellent
- Rating given in dog shows to outstanding dogs. The other ratings are tokuryo (very good), ryo (good) or ka (pass).
成犬 Seiken - Adult Dog
- In KKA, these are dogs aged over 2 years on the day of the exhibition.
壮犬 Souken - Mature Dog
- In KKA, these are dogs aged over 1 year and under 2 years.
未成犬 Miseiken - Minor Dog
- In KKA, these are dogs aged over 6 months and under 1 year.
- The overall winner of the show, similar to ‘best in show’.
Hunting
猟犬 Ryouken - Hunting Dog
一銃一狗 Ichijuu, Ikku - One Gun, One Dog
ほえどめ Hoedome - Baying
かみどめ Kamidome - Catching/Holding
マタギ Matagi
単独猟師 Tandoku Ryoshi - Solo Hunter
- A general term used to refer to all types of hunting dogs including hounds, gun dogs, curs, feists, laika and terriers, not just the Nihon Ken.
一銃一狗 Ichijuu, Ikku - One Gun, One Dog
- This refers to the Matagi way of hunting with Nihon Ken, where it is just one man, one gun and one dog. In modern hunting, this way is less common, with changes to follow the western style of hunting, and as it requires a great deal of skill for a hunter and dog to work alone, though it remains something of a ‘goal’ of hunting with the Japanese breeds.
ほえどめ Hoedome - Baying
- Bay dogs will hold prey by voice, running around it, dodging its charges, and barking, until the hunter dispatches it.
かみどめ Kamidome - Catching/Holding
- Catch dogs will hold prey by attacking and biting the prey to hold it until the hunter dispatches it.
マタギ Matagi
- The Matagi are the traditional winter hunters of the Tōhoku region in the north of Japan.
単独猟師 Tandoku Ryoshi - Solo Hunter
- Hunters who work alone with their dogs.