As Japan’s national dog, the Akita is a sacred symbol of the country. As Prime Minister of Japan, Abe gave an Akita to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2012 and named it “Yume. The Akita dog was given to Abe as a token of appreciation for Russia’s assistance to Japan during the March 11 earthquake in 2011, when it was only three months old. It is reported that on December 13, 2016, local time, Putin accepted the Japanese “Yomiuri Shimbun” and television interview request, two Japanese journalists waiting in advance in the Kremlin. I did not expect that this interview Putin brought the Akita dog “Dream” as well. The two journalists were surprised, and Putin explained: someone said he wanted to see how “Dream” is doing now, so I brought it. I don’t know if there were too many flashes or what, but the dog suddenly became irritable and rushed towards the two Japanese journalists. When Putin saw this situation, he calmly took out dog food from his pocket and gave it to the dog, which made it calm down, and then “Dream” was also taken down by the staff. The two Japanese journalists smiled awkwardly: it seems that this is the connoisseur of dog training ah. Putin said that the Akita dog has this reaction, should see too many flash, thought their master is in danger, which seems grumpy, want to protect the master. It seems that the relationship between Putin and this Akita dog is very deep. 2016 news reported that Abe wanted to present the Akita dog to Putin again, but was refused by Putin, the specific reason is not clear. In addition to this “dream”, in 2018, Abe gave an Akita dog to Russia as a valuable gift, but this time not to Putin, but to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics women’s skating gold medalist, Russia’s Alina Zagitova. According to reports, the gift of Akita is a small female dog with red hair. Zagitova intends to name her “Masaru” after “victory”. Before handing over the dog to Zagitova, Kei Endo, chairman of the National Diet Committee of the Japan Restoration Council, who is the president of the Preservation Society, said in a speech, “I look forward to being a witness to the friendship between Japan and Russia.” It seems that Akita has been elevated from the national dog of Japan to the diplomatic “ambassador” of the country, and the burden on his shoulders is not small!
