Recent from talks
Japanese Bobtail
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Japanese Bobtail
The Japanese Bobtail (Japanese: ジャパニーズ・ボブテイル, Hepburn: Japanīzu Bobuteiru) is a breed of domestic cat with an unusual bobtail more closely resembling the tail of a rabbit than that of other cats. The breed was first developed in Japan, and registered officially in the 1960s. The breed has been known in Japan for centuries, and it frequently appears in traditional folklore and art. Japanese Bobtails are believed to be derived from domestic and feral populations of kinked-tailed cats widespread throughout Southeast Asia and southern China.
As in most other breeds, Japanese Bobtails may have almost any color (or colors, arranged in any number of patterns). Predominantly-white calicoes are especially favored by the Japanese and by cat fanciers,[citation needed] and strongly represented in folklore, though other colorations are also accepted by breed standards.
Feral and domestic cats with shortened and kinked tails were first documented in Southeast Asia and southern China long before the development of modern breeds. The kinked tail is highly variable and is a dominant trait. They ranged in appearance from being just slightly shortened (around 25 cm (9.8 in) long), to being seemingly abruptly cut off in the middle (around 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in) long), to being bobtails (less than 10 cm (3.9 in) long). These cats were called "qilin tail" in southern China (after the mythical creature) and were traditional symbols of fortune and wealth. Charles Darwin described the widespread occurrence of this trait in The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868): "Throughout an immense area, namely the Malayan archipelago, Siam, Pegu and Burmah, all the cats have truncated tails about half the proper length, often with a sort of knot at the end."
A 2016 study has identified that the kinked tails in these cats are the result of a missense mutation of the HES7 gene. It is the same cause of the mutation in Japanese Bobtails, making it likely that the ancestral founder of the Japanese bobtail is originally from Southeast Asia or China and that the bobtail trait already existed prior to their introduction to Japan.
It is unknown when cats were first introduced to Japan, but they likely arrived through multiple introductions from trade with the rest of Asia. It is believed that they first arrived along with Buddhist monks in the 6th century, who kept cats as a means of preventing rats from damaging scrolls made from Xuan paper. They were initially regarded as luxury goods. The first documented mention of a cat in Japan is from the journal entry of the young Emperor Uda in March 11, 889. He described it as a gift which arrived by boat to his father, the late Emperor Kōkō.
In 1602, Japanese authorities decreed that all cats should be set free to help deal with rodents threatening the nation's silkworm population and associated industry. At that time, buying or selling cats was illegal, and from then on, bobtailed cats lived on farms and in the streets. Japanese Bobtails thus became the "street/farm cats" of Japan.
Around 1701, in Kaempfer's Japan, the first book written by a Westerner about the flora, fauna, and landscape of Japan, German doctor Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) wrote, "there is only one breed of cat that is kept. It has large patches of yellow, black and white fur; its short tail looks like it has been bent and broken. It has no mind to hunt for rats and mice but just wants to be carried and stroked by women."
The wife of a travelling missionary, Margaret Tate Kinnear Ballagh, who moved to Japan in 1861 and settled in Kanagawa, described the cats thus; "Most of the cats here are tailless; large, glossy, fat and lazy and do not get their living by catching rats. In fact, the rats are nearly as large as they are, so pussy knows better than to attack them, so we are left to their mercy, and we find them very merciless. (....) Why the cats are without tails has never been satisfactorily explained. For the same reason, I suppose, that the little black-and-white shaggy poodle has a pug nose, and are often dressed with a bright ribbon around the neck and a pinafore round the body besides."
Hub AI
Japanese Bobtail AI simulator
(@Japanese Bobtail_simulator)
Japanese Bobtail
The Japanese Bobtail (Japanese: ジャパニーズ・ボブテイル, Hepburn: Japanīzu Bobuteiru) is a breed of domestic cat with an unusual bobtail more closely resembling the tail of a rabbit than that of other cats. The breed was first developed in Japan, and registered officially in the 1960s. The breed has been known in Japan for centuries, and it frequently appears in traditional folklore and art. Japanese Bobtails are believed to be derived from domestic and feral populations of kinked-tailed cats widespread throughout Southeast Asia and southern China.
As in most other breeds, Japanese Bobtails may have almost any color (or colors, arranged in any number of patterns). Predominantly-white calicoes are especially favored by the Japanese and by cat fanciers,[citation needed] and strongly represented in folklore, though other colorations are also accepted by breed standards.
Feral and domestic cats with shortened and kinked tails were first documented in Southeast Asia and southern China long before the development of modern breeds. The kinked tail is highly variable and is a dominant trait. They ranged in appearance from being just slightly shortened (around 25 cm (9.8 in) long), to being seemingly abruptly cut off in the middle (around 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in) long), to being bobtails (less than 10 cm (3.9 in) long). These cats were called "qilin tail" in southern China (after the mythical creature) and were traditional symbols of fortune and wealth. Charles Darwin described the widespread occurrence of this trait in The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868): "Throughout an immense area, namely the Malayan archipelago, Siam, Pegu and Burmah, all the cats have truncated tails about half the proper length, often with a sort of knot at the end."
A 2016 study has identified that the kinked tails in these cats are the result of a missense mutation of the HES7 gene. It is the same cause of the mutation in Japanese Bobtails, making it likely that the ancestral founder of the Japanese bobtail is originally from Southeast Asia or China and that the bobtail trait already existed prior to their introduction to Japan.
It is unknown when cats were first introduced to Japan, but they likely arrived through multiple introductions from trade with the rest of Asia. It is believed that they first arrived along with Buddhist monks in the 6th century, who kept cats as a means of preventing rats from damaging scrolls made from Xuan paper. They were initially regarded as luxury goods. The first documented mention of a cat in Japan is from the journal entry of the young Emperor Uda in March 11, 889. He described it as a gift which arrived by boat to his father, the late Emperor Kōkō.
In 1602, Japanese authorities decreed that all cats should be set free to help deal with rodents threatening the nation's silkworm population and associated industry. At that time, buying or selling cats was illegal, and from then on, bobtailed cats lived on farms and in the streets. Japanese Bobtails thus became the "street/farm cats" of Japan.
Around 1701, in Kaempfer's Japan, the first book written by a Westerner about the flora, fauna, and landscape of Japan, German doctor Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) wrote, "there is only one breed of cat that is kept. It has large patches of yellow, black and white fur; its short tail looks like it has been bent and broken. It has no mind to hunt for rats and mice but just wants to be carried and stroked by women."
The wife of a travelling missionary, Margaret Tate Kinnear Ballagh, who moved to Japan in 1861 and settled in Kanagawa, described the cats thus; "Most of the cats here are tailless; large, glossy, fat and lazy and do not get their living by catching rats. In fact, the rats are nearly as large as they are, so pussy knows better than to attack them, so we are left to their mercy, and we find them very merciless. (....) Why the cats are without tails has never been satisfactorily explained. For the same reason, I suppose, that the little black-and-white shaggy poodle has a pug nose, and are often dressed with a bright ribbon around the neck and a pinafore round the body besides."
Recent media