GENJI, KYOKO and MAI with friends

GENJI, KYOKO and MAI with friends

Genji was born in 1949 and he had been amused by beauty of dogs since his early childhood. His parents found a German Shepherd for him and it was the first dog he kept at his house. He started reading a Japanese dog magazine called “Aiken no Tomo” ( Meaning “dogs’ best friend” in Japanese) when he was an elementary school student. He then became interested in Boxers. When he was a junior high school student, he was already reading an American dog magazine called “Boxer Review.”

As he saw a beautiful halequin Great Dane at a dog show nearby his house, he was also fascinated by the breed. However, it was very expensive to purchase a harlequin Great Dane. At that time, harlequin Great Danes were about $1000 and black Great Dane puppies were $100, so he asked his parents to purchase a black Great Dane.

And then, there is another opportunity for him to get interested in another breed. One day, he saw a photo of REYAS RAINBOW on a UK magazine and he was in love with Borzois after seconds he saw the picture of the dog. However, he could not take care of dogs when he was a university student in Tokyo and working as a part-time at the same time, so he always went to dog shows whenever he got his free time.

Kyoko was born in 1948, a year before Genji was born.
Kyoko also kept a Japanese Spitz and a Collie from her young age, but never imagined that dogs would be the center of her life later on. Her breeds are Borzois, Whippets, Papillons, and Jack Russel Terriers.

After Genji and Kyoko got married, they started showing and breeding dogs as their hobbies. His Great Dane, “Spuds” (BIS.AM.JKC.CH. Heritage's Beta Von River Wood)
received Best in Show at a dog show in Tokyo. It was like a dream come true for them. That's how he started being involved in dogs and dog shows heavily. He started going to dog shows every week and got many friends.

From his early age, he couldn’t help noticing that Japanese dog shows needed to be changed in some way; that we, Japanese dog people, need to learn many things from outside the community from the way of trimming to handling their dogs at the shows. Above all, he didn’t want to be a fish in a big pond and was dying to see better dogs than what they had in Japan at that time.

He started going to dog shows mainly in the U.S., U.K., and Australia in 1990. His another hobby was taking photos and cameras. So he took many photos at the dog shows and introduced those photos on Japanese dog magazines. Then, he was asked to take photos by “Aiken no Tomo”, a Japanese dog magazines and also some foreign dog magazines. That’s how he found his another career as a dog photographer. He has been writing reports of Westminster Kennel Club Dog Shows every year since 1992 for “Aiken no Tomo”. His reports are highly praised by people both in Japan and abroad.

Genji and Kyoko have three kids; two boys and a girl. Their kids are, along with dogs, the center of their lives. Mai, their daughter, is heavily involved in dog shows as well. Her fawn Great Dane, “Peaches” (BIS.INT.JKC.CH. Pena Zarlins Beautiful Noise), is an all-time No.2 dog in all-breed in the history of Japan. She was also one of the best junior handlers in Japan until she moved to the U.S. for her B.A. degree in Sociology at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.
Now she is back in Japan and getting ready to take exams for a judging liscense. Genji is an all-breed judge and Kyoko has judging liscenses in the Hound, Working, Terrier, and Sporting groups.

Because of Genji, many foreign dogs have been introduced in Japan. The overall quality of show dogs in Japan and Japanese dog shows have improved year by year, which was his dream ever since his childhood. Now, his dream is to provide better and better quality of life for dogs in Japan and change notion of Japanese people in general about what dogs are; today, dogs in Japan are there as pets, but he wants Japanese people to have dogs as members of their families just like he does. To make his dream come true again, he recently built a boarding kennel in Narita, where the Tokyo International airport is. It is a 5-acred land, which is a huge land for people living in a small coountry like Japan. Unlike conventional boarding kennels in Japan, his kennel provides huge spaces and the cleanest facility for each dog. To see the pictures of their kennel, click here.

Their dogs have been received all breed No.1 almost every year in Japan. This site is introducing to you about Genji, Kyoko, Mai and their friends, the owners of the dogs and dog shows around the world.