A Historical Reconsideration of the Extinction of the Japanese Wolf across the Archipelago— At the Crossroads of Society, Culture, and Science —

1. Introduction

The Japanese wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax), a small canid endemic to the Japanese archipelago, once roamed Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.From the late 19th to the early 20th century, however, its presence rapidly declined, and today it is regarded as extinct.

This article reconstructs the extinction of the Japanese wolf since the Meiji period from multiple perspectives—records, folklore, policy, environment, and science. Rather than treating it merely as a “natural-historical event,” it seeks to highlight its cultural-historical significance as a reflection of the evolving relationship between humans and animals.

2. The “Yama-inu” in Popular Memory

The Japanese wolf was often called yama-inu (“mountain dog”), leaving a deep impression on rural communities.

• In Shiga Naoya’s story Takibi (The Bonfire), wolves appear as creatures that chase or encircle people, evoking both fear and awe.

• Testimonies such as “I heard wolves howling as a child” or “A horse was attacked on the way home” indicate that, within agrarian society, wolves were both a tangible threat and a source of lasting memories.

These recollections transcend simple animal encounters; they functioned as liminal experiences at the boundary of human life and the natural world.

3. Science and Culture in Tension

In 1905 (Meiji 38), Anderson of the Zoological Society of London visited Higashiyoshino in Nara Prefecture to obtain a specimen for taxidermy. According to reports, he was refused lodging due to Buddhist scruples against killing—an episode that recorded the clash between scientific endeavor and religious ethics.

This incident illustrates the friction that arose as modern science penetrated Japanese society. Accounts that local hunters nonetheless offered a “Japanese wolf” suggest that the animal—already rare—was attracting international attention as a subject of study.

4. Scholarly Progress and Its Limits

4.1 Morphological Features

The Taishō-era Illustrated Mammals described the Japanese wolf’s small size, short tibia, and coat characteristics. These descriptions emphasized its contrast with the larger European wolf and reinforced its status as a distinct subspecies of the Japanese archipelago.

4.2 Genetic Insights

Recent mitochondrial DNA analyses indicate that the Japanese wolf formed a clearly divergent lineage from other East Asian wolf populations. The genetic distance appears substantial, reaffirming its identity as a globally distinctive taxon.

4.3 Research Gaps

Because no systematic field studies were undertaken before its extinction, knowledge of its ecology—population trends, pack structure, diet, and behavior—has been lost. Research today depends on the very limited number of taxidermy and skeletal specimens that remain.

5. Multiple Causes of Extinction

5.1 State-Sponsored Extermination

The Meiji government classified wolves as “vermin” harmful to livestock and introduced bounty systems. Coordinated hunts by communities and hunters rapidly decimated their numbers.

5.2 Epidemics

Rabies and canine distemper, prevalent at the time, likely spread from dogs to wolves, causing mass die-offs.

5.3 Environmental Transformation

Deforestation and agricultural expansion destroyed habitats; declines in deer and boar destabilized the prey base. Road building and human settlement in mountain areas further reduced available range.

Through the interaction of these factors, the Japanese wolf was driven to extinction by the early 20th century.

6. Cultural Reinterpretation and the “Myth of Nature”

It is often assumed that “untouched nature” still remained in the Meiji and Taishō eras. In reality, rapid deforestation and land reclamation drastically transformed ecosystems.

The image of “abundant nature” is therefore, to some extent, a nostalgic reconstruction, diverging from historical realities of wolf extinction. Narratives surrounding the wolf mirror how Japanese society has imagined, remembered, and reinterpreted “nature.”

7. An International Comparative Lens

The extinction of the Japanese wolf was not unique. Similar declines befell the North American red wolf and many European wolf populations during industrial expansion.Yet in Japan, the insular ecosystem combined with cultural particularities appears to have accelerated and deepened the process, making extinction more irreversible.

8. Future Research and Interdisciplinary Significance

The extinction of the Japanese wolf resulted from the entanglement of cultural, social, and political factors, compounded by gaps in zoological research. Future tasks include:

• Empirical re-analysis of specimens (morphology, DNA, isotopes)

• Systematic organization of folklore to reconstruct popular “wolf images”

• Re-examination of policy history (eradication programs and development policy)

• Environmental-historical reassessment (climate variability, land-use change)

Integrating these approaches can move discussion beyond a simple “chronicle of extinction” toward a broader history of human–nature relations.

9. Conclusion

The Japanese wolf was framed in multiple dimensions:

• Folkloric: revered and feared as yama-inu and divine messenger

• Social: condemned as a livestock predator

• Scientific: recognized as an insular and distinctive subspecies

Its disappearance was not a natural fade-out but a historical event symbolizing shifts in modern Japan’s social structures and views of nature.From the fragments that remain—specimens, records, traditions—we must reconsider how to reconstruct the relationship between humans and the natural world.