Shinjukawa's founder lines — the philosophy behind our kennel
Every serious kennel is built on precise foundations. Ours can be traced back to three dogs chosen with care for the quality of their bloodlines, the complementarity of their genetic heritage and the diversity of their origins. They are not three dogs bought at random — they are three pieces of a puzzle designed to build a solid, coherent and lasting breeding programme. In this article we tell who they are, where they come from and why their combination produced the results that set us apart.
Ai We Sed So I’m So Special — the convergence of the BIS
Ai We Sed So I’m So Special, our first founder, Seikosho at the 2017 NIPPO in Italy, carries in his pedigree two Best in Show lines from the Nippo Grand National:
On the paternal side, he descends from Toyonishiki Go Toyohashi Onoda — the 1987 Nippo Grand National BIS, greatest representative of the Fukuryu/Korotama line — through his successor Tenkuu Go Etchuu Wakasugisou, who brought this line from Japan to the United States and the Western world.
On the maternal side, he carries the blood of the Ryuukyuu Uruma kennel — a Japanese breeding operation of the highest level whose founding dog Gyokuryuu Go Ryuukyuu Uruma (MBIS, champion in the USA, Canada, Japan and internationally) descends in turn from Kamui Go Aman No Kawasou, winner of the BIS at the 88th Nippo Grand National.
In a single dog two Best in Show lines of the Grand National converge — the most important event in the world for Japanese breeds.
We-Sedso N’Murakumo No Tsurugi — sesame from the Ichisuke line
Our second founder, We-Sedso N’Murakumo No Tsurugi, is a sesame male born in 2011 in the famous German kennel We-Sedso. He is the dog that brought the sesame colour into our kennel — making us the first to import this colour into Italy and among the first to own it in Europe.
His pedigree reveals a direct link to one of the four founding lines of the breed identified by judge Mitsuharu Kanashi, a Nippo member and one of the greatest connoisseurs of Japanese bloodlines.
On the maternal line, N’Murakumo descends from Kogikuhime Go Noto Nakasho — a Japanese sesame female whose pedigree is built with a tight linebreeding on Ichisuke Go Shuueisou. Ichisuke appears as the father of both the maternal grandfather (Tenjumaru Go Shuueisou, sesame) and the maternal grandmother (Chiharu Go Ehime Ippousou, sesame) — a mating between half-siblings probably designed to fix the colour.
The name “Ichisuke” is no coincidence: it is exactly the second founder line identified by Kanashi — the Korotama/Ichisuke line, named after the descendant of Korotama Go through which the line’s traits were concentrated and refined. The sesame in our kennel descends directly from the line of the dog that saved the breed from extinction.
On the paternal line, N’Murakumo also carries the blood of the Ryuukyuu Uruma line — through Gas Hollow Zen Satori Sunset, son of Shouryuu Go Ryuukyuu Uruma. The same line present in Ai We Sed So I’m So Special: the two founders of our kennel share this common root.
Fuyumi Go Of Taiwan Kao Ming — the Taiwanese outcross
The third founder of our kennel is Fuyumi Go Of Taiwan Kao Ming — a red female carrying black, from Taiwan, champion, with HD A (Excellent) and no ancestor in common with the other two.
Her pedigree is entirely Taiwanese — kennels Shen Wu, Heng Bing Shen, Bei Hou Shen Dao, Zhu Hsi Feng — lines that developed in relative isolation from the Japanese, European and American circuit. The Shiba arrived in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) and developed along a partially independent path: Japanese blood at the base, but autonomous evolution.
Fuyumi plays the same role in our kennel that Korotama Go Hakkakusou played in the post-war period: fresh blood from a geographically and genetically distant source, introduced to diversify the heritage without compromising quality, but also and above all the ideal subject for working in linebreeding on the two male lines, thanks to the fact that carrying black, if mated with N’Murakumo, she could produce sesame, transmitting the colour and helping to merge the lines in the subsequent steps.
Mated with N’Murakumo No Tsurugi (our sesame founder), Fuyumi produced, among others, Shinju Go Shinjukawa — the first sesame Shiba to win Best of Breed at the CIRN (Club Italiano Razze Nordiche) monographic show in 2016, beating 55 competitors. A historic result for the sesame colour in Italy.
Mated instead with Ai We Sed So I’m So Special (our red founder), Fuyumi produced Magatama Go Shinjukawa — one of the most successful females of recent years, European Champion in 2019, Best in Group at the Latin Winner in Bologna in ‘23 and also winner of one of the classes at the Nippo in Padenghe.
From the same Fuyumi, with different sires, were also born:
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Kikujiro is the father of Nio and Nise Go Shinjukawa, among the most beautiful sesame dogs ever seen in the rings
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Kina is the mother of Jomei, a splendid multiple-champion red male, in turn the father of Guren and Gumi, the mother of Aiken TopDog 2024 and 2025
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Shiho-Go is the mother of Sensei go Shinjukawa, Best in Show at the Nippo 2019 in Padenghe (BS),
Fuyumi is the crossroads of the kennel: mated with the sesame founder she produces the first sesame BOB in Italy; mated with the red founder she produces a European champion. Her fresh Taiwanese blood has proven to combine perfectly with both lines — the confirmation that the choice of that pedigree for the outcross was the right choice.
The genealogical structure of Shinjukawa
| Founder | Colour | Origin | COI | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ai We Sed So I’m So Special | Red | USA/Japan | — | Toyonishiki (BIS GN 1987) + Ryuukyuu Uruma (BIS 88th GN) |
| We-Sedso N’Murakumo No Tsurugi | Sesame | Germany/Japan | — | Ichisuke (Korotama/sesame line) + Ryuukyuu Uruma |
| Fuyumi Go Of Taiwan Kao Ming | Red | Taiwan | 0% | Taiwanese lines — total outcross |
Three founders, three different geographic origins (Japan/USA, Japan/Germany, Taiwan), three complementary roles: the Grand National lines for quality, the Ichisuke line for sesame, the Taiwanese outcross for genetic diversity. And a common base — Ryuukyuu Uruma — that links the first two founders, ensuring coherence within diversity.
The results speak for themselves
From these three founders descend the lines on which Shinjukawa has been working since 2010. It is from this genetic heritage that were born:
Sensei — 20th at the Grand National in Japan, the only dog without a Nippo pedigree to compete. Son of Ai We Sed So I’m So Special.
Magatama Go Shinjukawa — European champion 2019, daughter of Ai We Sed So I’m So Special and Fuyumi.
Shinju Go Shinjukawa — first sesame Shiba BOB at the CIRN monographic show 2016 out of 55 competitors, son of N’Murakumo and Fuyumi.
Aiken Go Shinjukawa — TopDog 2024 and 2025, champion in three countries at only three years old, the result of two linebreedings on our original lines.
in the first generation and later
Neo Go Shinjukawa — Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian Champion, one of the most beautiful sesame dogs ever seen in European rings
Nippo Go Shinjukawa — Austrian and German Champion, currently at a prestigious Austrian kennel.
Asahi No Goma Shinjukawa — Polish Champion, with offspring already winning in Germany.
It is no coincidence. When you start from lines of this quality and work methodically since 2010 on the same foundations, the results are not lucky coincidences — they are the logical consequence of a system.
Why it matters for those choosing a puppy
Knowing the founder lines of a kennel is not an academic exercise — it is the most concrete demonstration of the difference between those who breed with a project and those who mate dogs hoping for results.
When we tell you that one of our puppies descends from two Best in Show lines of the Grand National and from a Taiwanese outcross selected for genetic diversity, it is not marketing — they are facts that can be documented and verified on any genealogical database. Every name cited in this article is a real dog, with a pedigree you can consult, with registered results.
This is what we mean when we say that pedigrees may all look the same, but they are not.
References
- Genealogical databases: shibapedigree.com — records of Ai We Sed So I’m So Special, Fuyumi Go Of Taiwan Kao Ming (id: 75417); shiba-pedigree.ru — records of We-Sedso N’Murakumo No Tsurugi (id: 66211), Tenkuu Go Etchuu Wakasugisou (id: 63649), Shouryuu Go Ryuukyuu Uruma (id: 65009), Toyonishiki Go Toyohashi Onoda (id: 63203).
- Kanashi M. — Nippo judge, analysis of the four founding lines of the Shiba Inu.
- Haskett G., Houser S. (2003). “The Total Shiba.” Alpine Publications, Loveland, Colorado.
