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xi acknowledgments Many people suppose that I wrote a book about dogs because I am a dog lover. My family kept two dogs, an English pointer Belle (1965–1979) and a German short-haired pointer Christy (1976–1978), when I was a child, but many years delivering newspapers added some ambiguity to my fondness for canines. I never thought I would write a book about dogs. Perhaps, though, I should have realized that canines were my fate. After all, I had been born in the year of the dog. You are probably not persuaded by an explanation that is based on the Chinese zodiac. Even more important, invoking astrologic destiny would fail to recognize many generous individuals who helped make this book a reality. I am intellectually indebted foremost to Gregory Pflugfelder of Columbia University. From this book’s inception through its many gestations, Greg has been a model mentor—pushing me to think big while paying attention to detail, critiquing drafts at various stages, and even welcoming my family to his mother’s home and pool in northern California. The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia was a wonderful place to study. Along with Greg, Carol Gluck and Henry D. Smith II offered their abiding support for this book from the beginning. In addition to this trinity, Richard Bulliet of Columbia University and Brett Walker of Montana State University offered useful suggestions. Also at Columbia, Paul Anderer, William Leach, David Lurie, Gregory Mann, Anupama Rao, and Marcia Wright provided invaluable assistance and concrete advice. I was blessed with superb colleagues at Columbia in the departments of History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, including Nicole Cohen, Tim Davis, Dennis Frost, Eric Han, Reto Hofmann, Lisa Hosokawa, Mark Jones, Joy Kim, Konrad Lawson, Ethan Mark, Laura Nietzl, Scott O’Bryan, Lee Pennington, Julie Rousseau, Kenneth Ruoff, Jordan Sand, Jack Stoneman, Lori Watt, Leila R. Wice, and Takashi Yoshida, whom I thank for their ongoing intellectual camaraderie. Special thanks go to Ian Miller, now at Harvard University, who from my first visit to Columbia has always been a superb senpai (senior colleague). xii Acknowledgments This book benefited immensely from the more than three years I spent in Japan between 2002 and 2006. I am thankful to Yoshida Yutaka of Hitotsubashi University for furnishing institutional affiliation during my initial research in Tokyo, and Matsuura Masataka of Hokkaido University for repeatedly securing funding that allowed me to complete my research and writing while based in Sapporo. For several years, Tsukamoto Manabu of the National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba served as an unofficial sponsor of, and inspiration for, my work. His colleague, Shinohara Toru, now the director general of the Lake Biwa Museum, was generous with his time. In the Faculty of Law at Hokkaido University, I am particularly indebted to Makabe Jun, who carefully read and checked the first two chapters, as well as Michael Burtscher, Naomi Hyunjoo Chi, Endo ˉ Ken, Furuya Jun, Kawashima Shin, Komori Teruo, Matsuo Motonori, Miyamoto Taro ˉ, Sato ˉ Tatsu, Takada Naoko, Watari Tadasu, Michael Wood, and Yamaguchi Jiro ˉ. In the Faculty of Letters, Inoue Katsuo, Shirakizawa Asahiko, and Asai Ryo ˉsuke lent invaluable guidance. I am grateful to former colleagues at Nissho Electronics, especially Fukuda Takashi, Mizuno Masahiro, Michitaka Sachihiko, and the Moros (Toshio and Toshiko), for providing my family and me with a means to survive while studying in New York, even after I had left the company for Columbia, and a free place to stay at the Nissho dormitory in Koganei while in Tokyo. During the course of my research, many people at numerous libraries, museums , and archives helped me, and I am able to thank only a few by name. Ria Koopmans-de-Bruijin and Mihoko Miki of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University aided me in the earliest stages. Archival materials housed by dog-fancying and animal-protection organizations proved essential to my work. I appreciate the cooperation of Barbara Kolk of the American Kennel Club, Kellie Snow of the (English) Kennel Club, Uki Terukuni of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Dogs, Nakamoto Norio of the Japan Shepherd Association, Saito ˉ Takeshi of the Nippon Police Dog Association, Aida Yasuhiko of the Japanese Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Takada Susumu of the Japan Kennel Club. I received kind assistance from New York book collector Don J. Cohn, Mori Shigeo of the East Japan Railway Company, Honma Zen’ei of Ko ˉdansha...

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