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Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain | 
 enlarge | Author: Martha Sherrill
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy Used: $12.95
You Save: $13.00 (50%)
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Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 6342
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1
ISBN: 1594201242
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.73
EAN: 9781594201240
ASIN: 1594201242
Publication Date: February 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Over 600,000 Feedbacks Posted!!! Great Buy!!!*** Never Used*** May Have a Publisher's Mark~We have over 2,500,000 Books Sold!!!
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Product Description
How one man's consuming passion for dogs saved a legendary breed from extinction and led him to a difficult, more soulful way of life in the wilds of Japan's remote snow country
As Dog Man opens, Martha Sherrill brings us to a world that Americans know very little about-the snow country of Japan during World War II. In a mountain village, we meet Morie Sawataishi, a fierce individualist who has chosen to break the law by keeping an Akita dog hidden in a shed on his property.
During the war, the magnificent and intensely loyal Japanese hunting dogs are donated to help the war effort, eaten, or used to make fur vests for the military. By the time of the Japanese surrender in 1945, there are only sixteen Akitas left in the country. The survival of the breed becomes Morie's passion and life, almost a spiritual calling.
Devoted to the dogs, Morie is forever changed. His life becomes radically unconventional-almost preposterous-in ultra-ambitious, conformist Japan. For the dogs, Morie passes up promotions, bigger houses, and prestigious engineering jobs in Tokyo. Instead, he raises a family with his young wife, Kitako-a sheltered urban sophisticate-in Japan's remote and forbidding snow country.
Their village is isolated, but interesting characters are always dropping by-dog buddies, in-laws from Tokyo, and a barefoot hunter who lives in the wild. Due in part to Morie's perseverance and passion, the Akita breed strengthens and becomes wildly popular, sometimes selling for millions of yen. Yet Morie won't sell his spectacular dogs. He only likes to give them away.
Morie and Kitako remain in the snow country today, living in the traditional Japanese cottage they designed together more than thirty years ago-with tatami mats, an overhanging roof, a deep bathtub, and no central heat. At ninety-four years old, Morie still raises and trains the Akita dogs that have come to symbolize his life.
In beautiful prose that is a joy to read, Martha Sherrill opens up the world of the Dog Man and his wife, providing a profound look at what it is to be an individualist in a culture that reveres conformity-and what it means to live life in one's own way, while expertly revealing Japan and Japanese culture as we've never seen it before.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
A rare treasure March 13, 2008
H. Bryant Pierpont (Tokyo, Japan)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
This book is a rare treasure. As a dog lover, an amateur student of Japanese history, and a resident of Japan, I found it irresistable. It provides great information about a relatively unknown place in Japan, even to Japanese folks. It also chronicles a period of time in Japanese history from an unusual vantage point. The book is an excellent book for dog lovers, but it's about much more than that. It details incredible human relationships in tight, hypnotic verse, it tells about the most beautiful areas in Japan, and it tells about the changing dynamics of Japanese marriage. I read it from cover to cover, totally unable to put it down. A must read!
 Book Review: Dog Man by Martha Sherrill March 8, 2008
J. Stembridge
23 out of 28 found this review helpful
Dog Man: An Uncommon Life On a Faraway Mountain by Martha Sherrill The Penguin Press New York 2008 (Hardbound, ISBN 978-1-59420-124-0, $25.95)
Reveiwed by Jim Stembridge
Morie (Mor-ee-ay) Sawataishi is living an honorable life, some would say a spare existence, in the far north forests of Japan. Aside from episodes involving his pre-World-War-II stint with the Japanese navy in Manchuria, and his hydro-electric dam project management with the Japanese giant Mitsubishi, the chapters of Morie's life can be seen in the succession of his dogs. We follow Morie's life on the edge of the forest, spare of luxuries, but rich in close symbiosis with a beautiful, if rugged, part of the world.
Morie, during the strife of the World War, decided that it was his destiny to save and propagate the iconic Japanese dog breed, the Akita. But the few Akitas remaining in those early days were ill-defined. Their desirable traits had yet to be agreed-upon, so there was much competition among breeders. Long face? Round face? Long legs? Short? Loose skin? Tight skin? Red with white markings? All white?
For Morie, whose life away from work is all wilderness, primitive living, and hunting, what's desirable in an Akita is kisho, an almost indefinable boldness, courage, loyalty, and presence. But kisho is found only rarely, especially these days, Morie would say, when dogs are bred to look pretty or, worse, to just make money from sale of the puppies. From "No-Name" and "Three Good Lucks" through "Samarai Tiger" and "Shiro", we meet Moriie's Akitas with kisho, and follow Morie's efforts to define and develop the breed.
"Morie and his dogs were heroes every morning, and heroes again every night. With each walk into the wild, they were bold and resourceful. They were alive and alert, their senses acute, poised for the natural excitements that the rest of us must crave when we turn to flickering screens for adventures and when we ache to connect with nature and animals. We yearn for the company of dogs because they return us to an ancient way of life, vanishing now."
Martha Sherrill, whose celebrity profiles were wll known to readers of The Washington Post, did extensive interviews of Morrie and his wife, Kitako, and their adult children, traveling to Japan in 2006. The story's contexts of Japan following the war, Japanese family life, dog breeding, and rural electrification seem genuine. The result is an endearing story of an honorable life--dreamy descriptions, written in spare, precise language, bold and resourceful---kisho.
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Excellent reading March 10, 2008
Marie L. Finnegan (Thomaston, ME United States)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I bought this book prepared to like it purely because it included the subject of akitas. It surpassed all my expections by far. The writting is wonderful. Great memories clearly presented with beautiful photos throughout. I will be recommending it to many of my doggy set friends. Even though it encompasses alot about the history of the akita, it is a story about so much more than dogs. It is about a life well lived and convictions, even at the cost of financial security in hard times. Bravo to the author for sharing the story with such grace.
Into the Wild, but more hopeful. AKITAS RULE! March 28, 2008
R. Boyd (Chicago, IL)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Let's get this out of the way right up front... We are Akita owners so we are slightly biased. Martha Sherrill does a wonderful job capturing the essence of the breed and tells an amazing story. You rarely hear her voice in the telling, but you feel well guided through the tale. As an author she was wise to stay out of the way of this amazing tale of a man who wants, and ultimately led, the simple life. In "Dog Man", Morie remained true to himself and his particular view of the world. He was not without his faults, but his wife, dogs, and yes, even his children loved him. His legacy is one of creation. What Morie created, his dogs, mountain retreat and legacy of kindness resonates with those hoping for something more from the world. In fact, the book makes such an impression, that a different outcome for "Into the Wild" might have occurred had this book been available...
For me... maybe one day my partner and I will end up with our own tin roofed cabin in a spot of the world that takes your breath away. Of course when I say "cabin of our own" that includes an Akita sleeping on the bed. Morie and Uesugi would not have approved of an Akita in the bed, but I bet Kitako would not mind so much!
Thank you Martha Sherrill for writing this book. Even though it is only March, I now know what our friends will be getting for Christmas this year.
Great book, especially for Akita lovers April 17, 2008
Lori Goodwin (Livingston, TX)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
My mother heard a lady talking about this book at the veterinarian's office and told me about it. I immediately ordered it on Amazon.com.
It is a wonderful story about a man, his integrity, a committed wife, their children, and the Akita dog breed. Even if you are not an "Akita person" I am sure you would find this book very interesting. If you are an "Akita person" I am sure it will be on your shelf of favorites. I will be ordering more for gifts... it's that good.
Thank you Mr. Morie (Mor ee ay) for preserving and developing my favorite breed. I have 3 living Akita's, 2 have passed away, and they are like no other dogs. Their intelligence, judge of character, and loyalty amaze me everyday.
Thank you Ms. Sherrill for sharing this man's story with us. Thank you for sharing Kitako (Mr. Morie's wife) and their children's views also. Thank you for showing us an example of integrity and committment, even though it's not the easy road, it is always worth the journey.
I LOVED IT!
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