hibiscus flowers

Yumi Hagiwara

Nippo Member for 41 years

profile picture of Yumi

I was born and raised in Japan and started breeding shibas over 40 years ago.

I have always been intrigued by my country’s breed, but fell in love with the shiba inu. Their beauty, loyalty, and tenacity wrapped up in a small package, unmatched by any other.

I started breeding shibas while attending grooming school and spent 7 years working as a vet tech at an animal hospital, to focus on dog health, treatment, medication, etc.

Yumi holding a shiba inu

I moved to the United States in 1998 and restarted establishing and breeding with a few import shibas. I have now imported over 30 shibas to the USA to not only abide by and improve the AKC standards but to also stay true to the Nippo standard.

My first and foremost goal is to produce healthy, happy shibas but to also breed and establish quality AKC shibas that also are quality to the Nippo standard.

Shiba inus are a protected species in Japan and I hope to continue to keep them true to their home country here in America.