Japan's Premier Purebred hound

The Kishu Ken is in AKC's Foundation Stock Service. Once the breed and club are prepared, they will move into the Miscellaneous group before they are fully recognized. Where do they go from there? Their current group assignment is the Working Group, but as of summer 2022, the Kishu Ken has requested the breed be considered for the Hound Group.

This request was not made lightly on the part of the club and breed enthusiasts in the USA. It was made after careful review of the definitions of AKC's group system and with the guidance of the Kishu Ken's preservation society in the country of origin itself. 

To fit the American Kennel Club’s definition of the Working Group, the Kishu Ken would have to have a function other than hunting and companionship. The Kishu Ken has never had any other consistent function historically or in the modern era. They aren’t a particularly reliable watch dog, they aren’t a property guardian, they are not a sled-hauling breed. They are a boar hound - to a point of pride of Kishu Ken enthusiasts in Japan and internationally. Their identity as a hound and a hunting dog is so strong that even the original breed club, the Nihon Ken Hozonkai which standardized the breed in 1934, has mentioned their use and function as a hunting dog multiple times on their web page. 

The American Kennel Club, by its published definition, confesses that the Hound Group cannot be generalized by anything other than their common ancestral trait of being used for hunting. While the idea of a spitz-type hound is not new to the AKC (first established by the Norwegian Elkhound), it does tend to draw attention. Continue learning about the Kishu Ken's hunting ability below.

How does the Kishu Ken Hunt?

The Kishu Ken is a hound, through and through, and is still the most utilized purebred Japanese breed used for hunting, but particularly in the pursuit of wild boar. Outside of Japan, the Kishu Ken has been used on all manner of wild game and non-game animals from boar to moose to rats and nutria. 

It isn’t without good reason. The Kishu Ken has retained its hunting instinct and ability the longest, among both registered and unregistered populations. It has been opined that no Kishu Ken, bred for hunting or show, will fail an instinct test on boar. Of course the instinct to bay or hold boar does not equal a skilled hunting dog, but it’s not a bad start to be fearless and talented in the face of such large and dangerous quarry.

The Kishu Ken is a relatively versatile hunter for large game and vermin. They are not soft-mouthed, however, and do not make good bird dogs or any fur bearing quarry the hunter hopes to keep a pelt from. They are hot-nosed and so they hunt primarily by sight or fresh scent - even in densely forested areas. It isn’t difficult to imagine that a dog’s vision is of extreme importance to the hunter and historically has not suffered much in the breed. 

Kishu Ken hunt on instinct and experience. There is training that goes into a hunting dog, but this is mostly to get the dog experience on the desired game and giving the dog good recall and a good “out” - that is, teaching the dog how to release game so that the hunter may take it. 

The breed is often hunted singularly or in a very small pack of 2 to 4 hounds from the same home or kennel. The dog often hunts ahead of their hunter. With boar, the Kishu Ken will push the quarry back to the hunter or bay to detain the boar to await the hunter’s arrival. This style of hunting where the dog fans out ahead of the hunter is sometimes called “wolf hunting” as it is said to mimic the natural hunting style of wolf packs. Hunters who use Kishu Ken on boar with other breeds have made note that the Kishu Ken will never lose sight of their prey and will wait until they have the support of the hunter or the pack to strike their quarry.

It is important to know, on that note, that the Kishu Ken is a very fast dog. Once they have a boar in their sights, they do not easily lose it. Another important detail that may not be commonly seen in very hot or other refined western hunting breeds typically used on boar is that their style of detaining large game is variable; the same individual may bark to detain or bite to detain depending on the size, speed, and skill of the prey they are detaining, as well as their own back-up and ability. 

These styles of detaining prey will be familiar to many hunters. In Japanese and in Kishu Ken, these styles are called hoedome and kamidome respectively. In English they are typically referred to as baying and catching.

To any prospective hunters investigating the breed, the Kishu Ken is a formidable and bold dog who is a good choice even today. The breed has lost very little of its hunting ability and is still the premiere choice among the 6 native, recognized Japanese dogs. The Kishu Ken is such a popular choice that their mixes often contribute to even the mixed breed hunting dog population in their native Japan.

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