Pure Race or
Pedigree Registration of the Tosa in Japan
Due to the lack of information regarding the Tosa-Inu, even in Japan, people who try to import this race have faced
great difficulty to obtain a Certificate of Pure Race or Pedigree Certificate. If you are interested in obtaining
an exemplary of this race, this article will be of great help to you. The information we have gathered and will
be detailing is not found in any other website.
In our first article about this
theme we had provided information regarding the Pure Race or Pedigree Certificate both in and out of Japan. In
light of the large amount of e-mails and phone calls received from people in the United States, Canada and other
countries who have purchased Tosa-Inu and asking us for information on how to register them in their respective
Clubs, we have decided to write this second article.
We will extend the information
in benefit of all of the future lovers of the Tosa -Inu. This will be helpful as not to make the same mistakes
of the past. Even we have been victims of this lack of information.
As we said before; The Tosa-Inu
is considered to be a National Treasure in Japan, due to the historic symbols it represents. The Preservation Registration
Committee of Tosa-Inu in Kochi Japan watches for the conservation and preservation of the breed. It has the authority
to issue a pedigree with the genetic makeup of the Tosa. After this, the pedigree is sent to the JKC to obtain
international pedigree status that determines that the dog is a bonafide representative of the Tosa breed.
The Preservation Registration Committee
of the Tosa-Inu in Kochi have strict control for the issue of registrations of the Tosa. The require Tosas to
have an ID numbered microchip before the registration is made. The microchip number is listed on the registration.
The same ID or microchip is placed in the JKC and FCI registration as well.
If you have the opportunity to make a good connection in Japan with a person that can help you obtain both of these
certificates of pure breed you are very lucky and will have achieved something very important. If it were easy
to import a Tosa from Japan with both of these certificates, it would stop being a National Patrimony and many
countries would have it, just as what happened with the Akita. But the difficulty presented in order to obtain
a pedigree certificate leaves us in a state of impotence.
The pure race makeup certificate issued by the Preservation Registration Committee of the Tosa-Inu in Kochi is
signed and sealed by the corresponding authority and has an imprint of an image of a Tosa dressed with Yokozuna’s
attire in the center.
This is the picture imprinted in the organization’s register
Many breeders in America, Canada, Europe and elsewhere have never had the privilege of seeing this certificate.
When a Tosa is imported from Japan without the appropriate certification of the Preservation Committee its credibility
is in queue because it may not possess the identity necessary to qualify as a pure exemplary of the race. Therefore
it cannot represent the race internationally.
The role of the Preservation Registration Committee is established for the following reasons:
Twice in the twentieth century
all the Japanese breeds, including the Tosa, we in imminent danger of extinction. First the food crisis during
World War 11 and the invasion by the allied forces, however, the Tosa began to flourish in Korea and Taiwan where
it had been exported, previously. Then a distemper epidemic brought the Tosa to verge of extinction.
The Association for the preservation of the Tosa decided to safe keep 12 Tosa's which by their character and type
were the most authentic representatives of the breed and took them to the Aomi Prefecture at the north of Japan,
an area little involved in the war. From those 12 exemplars descend the majority of the genuine Tosa's today.
The main organization to register any breed in Japan is the Japan Kennel Club (JKC) that is affiliated to the International
Cynological Federation (FCI) and to the Asia Kennel Union (AKU), which means that every breed in this organization
has the international recognition all over the world and is allowed to compete in any international Championship
or world show.
A person looking for a Tosa with
pedigree must understand that a puppy with FCI registration or pedigree is more valuable than one with only national
pedigree.
Two things are important when registering
the breed internationally: 1) you can sell the dogs all over the world, Sperm and 2) you can compete in world championships!
When your Tosa is registered in
the JKC and FCI its descendants are provided the same pedigree and can also be registered all over the world. If
your animal is not registered, then it will not be able to compete in any world championships.
The main club register in the USA
is affiliated also to FCI is AKC (American Kennel Club) but they do not recognize the Tosa - Inu because they think
that this is a dangerous dog, but it's not. Also they do not accept the Tosa in the show ring competition area.
The T.O.S.A . Inc is a membership
club in the USA which is affiliated to the UKC (United Kennel Club) where all members can get dog pedigree registration.
The UKC is only a national club and none of its pedigrees can be recognized in other international clubs affiliated
at FCI.
Tosa’s can be
Registered in any Japanese dog club?
For the Japanese, the registration of a Tosa in any obedience or conforming club constitutes a degradation of the
symbolism and patrimony that this race represents in its culture. People who own Tosa’s in Japan are very small
minorities that live in different regions of the country. They are usually related to the preservation of a tradition
or a sport, carried on by generations of ritualism and symbolisms.
The kennels that belong to certain
Tosa dog fighting associations have established a series of secret rules. They are usually directed by a maximum
authority as a president and a vice president. These positions are life-long (they can be substituted when they
die). The breeding kennels that belong to these types of associations do not have a genealogical record registered,
or any written register of their litters. But, if any foreigner wants a copy of registry for their Tosa, the president
of the association of the corresponding province can provide one.
Since this registration is not
issued by the competent authorities that certify racial purity, it has no international value.
Copy of a Certificate
of Registration issued in Japan by the National Tosa Inu Spread Association
This registration was made in Japan
and appears to be in good standing but since it was not issued by the required organization (Preservation Registration
Committee of Tosa - Inu in Kochi Japan); it may be accepted in a national club or in other countries but not internationally.
Cases like these are very common,
especially in the United States where people import their Tosa from Japan and register them in clubs like the UKC
(United Kennel Club), ARBA (American Rare Breed Association), CKC (Canine Kennel Club), FORB (Federation of Rare
Breed) and others. These clubs only have jurisdiction in the United States. If a Tosa is imported from Japan and
is registered in any club in the clubs mentioned, all of its generations will have the same registration acknowledged
in the US. Consequently, if a person purchases such a puppy in the US or outside the US the owner will not be able
to register his dog in any other country’s club nor any international club such as FCI (Federation Cynologique
International), JKC (Japan Kennel Club) or AKU (Asian Kennel Union), etcetera.
FCI regulation regarding
the registration of a Tosa imported from Japan without the proper Pedigree
Every canine club has different rules in different countries, but we will consider the most prominent international
club to which all the other clubs are associated. That is the FCI.
General rules of the FCI for the
initial registration of a Tosa outside of Japan:
1. The person interested in registering
their dog must contact the FCI or affiliates in their country.
2. The person must take their dog to the FCI or the affiliate office to be evaluated by a Judge or a Specialist
in charge of identifying racial purity.
3. If the Tosa meets the established criteria, the association will issue a certificate with the letters IR which
mean Initial Registry. In other words the Tosa-Inu has been initially registered for the first time.
4. The person must wait until the third generation for the IR letters to be eliminated from the pedigree. This
initial process for a person who wants their Tosa to have an internationally accepted pedigree can easily take
up to ten years.
5. To enable the future pups to have a pedigree free of IR the person must mate their Tosa with another dog that
has an IR free pedigree and belong to the FCI or its affiliates.
One thing to consider when registering a Tosa is whether the pedigree was provided for an ancestor through the
JKC or the FCI. The case could be that the Tosa be registered with the FCI, but not its ancestor. If this should
be the case then the owner of the Tosa, can register his Tosa with a local association affiliated to the FCI as
an initial registration (RI), the number and symbol on the bottom of the registration indicates that this is a
new register and after three generations, the RI will be removed and the breed will no longer be under RI. When
a pedigree Tosa is marked with the RI symbol, it cannot contend for world titles, not until after three generations.
There have been cases where a title has been taken back for this reason.
Any Tosa breeder that tells you that they or any other person can register a Tosa - Inu and obtain an FCI registration
out of Japan without a RI (initial registration) is lying. If your dog pedigree has the number and symbol (RI)
mean that parents of your dog were registered out of Japan for first time. Remember this breed is original from
Japan, when you perform the necessary research, you need to know how close the bloodline of your puppy’s are from
their Japanese ancestors and what type of registration his relatives have.
In reference to received e-mails
We have received many e-mails from around the world, but one that did catch my intention was a person that wrote
from Europe, that bought a female Tosa - Inu in the United States for forty-five hundred euro’s with a UKC (United
Kennel Club) registration. The breeder assured the buyer that the puppy would have an International certification
by the FCI. The puppy’s parents were brought from Japan but were not certified by the Preservation Committee or
the JKC in Japan. Therefore, the American breeder was trying to register the puppy’s parents in Mexico in an attempt
to obtain an international register. This procedure is illegal and does not meet the requirements established by
the FCI.
In order to counteract this type
of fraud the Japanese Kennel Club and the FCI require breeders to implant a Micro-chip or ID in their Tosa in order
to receive a Certified Export Pedigree or any International Certification. The information provided in the implant
then must be confirmed by the JKC.
The processing of a sport pedigree
for a Tosa in the JKC only lasts a year. If more than a year goes by from the date of importation of the Tosa and
the new owner has not received their certification or registration, this means that the application has not been
legally submitted to the JKC.
How to know if Your
Tosa has Fresh Blood Lines Straight from Japan or is the Product of Inbreeding
After carefully selecting the kennel or breeder from which you expect to obtain your puppy, look up how much time
has past since the parents were imported from Japan. If the time elapsed is more than two years, be cautious, especially
if the breeder explains that the registration certificate is still being processed. Remember we said before that
the process takes one year.
When you receive a copy of the registration or pedigree of the parents of your future puppy it will include the
description of the race, registration number, sex, date of birth, color and identification number, if any in the
first part of the document. The next section includes the kennel or breeder, the owners name and the date of registry.
The age of the female dog should
be studied also. Adult females are productive between the ages of one and seven, depending on their diet and care.
To be sure your puppy is an authentic offspring of the mother it is important to compare the date of birth of puppy
mother, the date of registry and the fertile age of the dogs. Many people have been victims of fraudulent breeders
that sell dogs with the information of parents that are, in fact, already dead or unable to reproduce.
If the puppies are a result of
artificial insemination, the buyer should request a receipt or a copy of the bill from the clinic where the procedure
took place.
Another important detail to be
observed is the number of times the name of the breeder kennel appears in the 1,2,3 generation. If all of the sires
and dames named in the registry of each generation have been property of the same breeder kennel, it means that
the lineage has had continuity for years.
Shakuhachi Imperial
is the first member in the entire world to register in JKC and FCI out of Japan, here is the proof.
