Japan’s Artful Dogs

Guardians, companions, zodiac animal—canines are a constant in Japanese culture.
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

From delicate Japanese Chins and foxlike Shibas to large and dignified Akitas, dogs—or inu— abound in Japan’s daily life, so it’s no surprise that they have also made many appearances in its art across the centuries.

In Empire of Dogs, author Aaron Herald Skabelund observes that dogs’ “physical mobility creates symbolic ambiguity, positioning canines between culture and nature,” a characteristic that fits neatly within the Japanese artistic tradition of showing animals in a natural context and often in association with people.

Factor in the country’s bedrock belief system, Shintoism—as old as Japan itself—with its many animals serving as messengers to the kami, or divine beings, and the prevalence of dogs is easy to understand. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find a pair of lion dog statues guarding an entrance to a Shinto shrine, where their job is to ward off evil spirits.

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