Empire of Dogs

Aaron Skabelund

Description

In 1924, Professor Ueno Eizaburo of Tokyo Imperial University adopted an Akita puppy he named Hachiko. Each evening Hachiko greeted Ueno on his return to Shibuya Station. In May 1925 Ueno died while giving a lecture. Every day for over nine years the Akita waited at Shibuya Station, eventually becoming nationally and even internationally famous for his purported loyalty. A year before his death in 1935, the city of Tokyo erected a statue of Hachiko outside the station. The story of Hachiko reveals much about the place of dogs in Japan's cultural imagination.In the groundbreaking Empire of Dogs, Aaron Herald Skabelund examines the history and cultural significance of dogs in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Japan, beginning with the arrival of Western dog breeds and new modes of dog keeping, which spread throughout the world with Western imperialism. He highlights how dogs joined with humans to create the modern imperial world and how, in turn, imperialism shaped dogs' bodies and their relationship with humans through its impact on dog-breeding and dog-keeping practices that pervade much of the world today.In a book that is both enlightening and entertaining, Skabelund focuses on actual and metaphorical dogs in a variety of contexts: the rhetorical pairing of the Western "colonial dog" with native canines; subsequent campaigns against indigenous canines in the imperial realm; the creation, maintenance, and in some cases restoration of Japanese dog breeds, including the Shiba Inu; the mobilization of military dogs, both real and fictional; and the emergence of Japan as a "pet superpower" in the second half of the twentieth century. Through this provocative account, Skabelund demonstrates how animals generally and canines specifically have contributed to the creation of our shared history, and how certain dogs have subtly influenced how that history is told. Generously illustrated with both color and black-and-white images, Empire of Dogs shows that human-canine relations often expose how people-especially those with power and wealth-use animals to define, regulate, and enforce political and social boundaries between themselves and other humans, especially in imperial contexts.

Sujets

• Histoire
• 20th century
• History of Asia
• Japan

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801463235
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

empire of dogs

Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute is Columbia University’s center for research, publication, and teaching on modern and con- temporary East Asia regions. The Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute were inaugurated in 1962 to bring to a wider public the results of significant new research on modern and contempo- rary East Asia.

empire of dogs

Canines, Japan, and the Making of the Modern Imperial World

a a r o n h e r a l d s k a b e l u n d

cornell university press Ithaca & London

Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges support from the College of Home, Family, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University, which assisted in the pub- lication of this book.

Cornell University Press also expresses appreciation to the Warner Fund at the University Seminars at Columbia University for help in publication. The ideas pre- sented in this book have benefitted from discussion in the University Seminar on Modern Japan.

Copyright © 2011 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof,

must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2011 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Skabelund, Aaron Herald.  Empire of dogs : canines, Japan, and the making of the modern imperial world / Aaron Herald Skabelund.  p. cm. — (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-0-8014-5025-9 (cloth : alk. paper)  1. Dogs—Japan—History—19th century. 2. Dogs—Japan—History—20th century. 3. Imperialism—Social aspects—Japan—History—19th century. 4. Imperialism— Social aspects—Japan—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University.

SF422.6.J3S56 2011 636.700952—dc22

2011013631

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my family

c on t e n t s

 List of Illustrations  Acknowledgments

 Introduction: Canine Imperialism 1. The Native Dog and the Colonial Dog 2. Civilizing Canines; or, Domesticating and Destroying Dogs 3. Fascism’s Furry Friends: The “Loyal Dog” Hachikoˉand the Creation of the “Japanese” Dog

4. Dogs of War: Mobilizing All Creatures Great and Small 5. A Dog’s World: The Commodification of Contemporary Dog Keeping

 Notes  Bibliography  Index

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199 233 253

Black and White Images

i l l u s t r at i on s

 1. Woodblock print of an English soldier and his dog, 1860 32  2. Sadahide print of Westerners accompanied by their dog in Yokohama, 1862 33  3. Sadahide print of foreign trader inspecting merchandise in Yokohama, 1862 33  4.A Clown on a Journeyby Bigot, August 1887 36  5.Canis Familiaris Japonicus,1842 38  6. “Unenlightened person,” “half-enlightened person,” and “enlightened person” with his hound, 1870 58  7. Edwin Dun, his dog, another American adviser to the Kaitakushi, and fourteen of their Japanese students, undated 64  8. Painting of Ainu chieftain and dog, 1790 68  9. Page from “Heaving a Foreigner over a Cliff for Fun, Kobe, 24 August 1897” 74 10. Next page from “Heaving a Foreigner over a Cliff for Fun” 75 11.Massacre des Innocentsby Bigot, 1888 78 12. Cartoon by Honda Kinkichirˉo, 1880 80 13. Statue of Saigˉo Takamori and his dog in Ueno Park, Tokyo, 2003 83 14. Photograph of the “Loyal Dog” Hachikˉo, undated 88 15. Saitˉo Hirokichi, November 1931 94 16. Holiday greeting card from the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, December 1933 96 17. The “Loyal Dog” Hachikˉo and Jiroˉ, preserved by taxidermy in the National Science Museum, Tokyo, 2002 100 18. Cartoon by Maekawa Senpan, 1935 110

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