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Godaikosou has helped to answer some questions from students for a high school project. The questions and our answers can be found on the Study page, hopefully this has helped their part.
Also, we would like to take this occasion to express our thoughts on this Japanese breed of dog. It's doubtful that show results and raising dog's ranks are the ideal way of preserving correct dogs.
Japan is an island country which was made even more isolated by the feudal Shoguns of the Edo era who closed the ports for several hundred years. The dogs in Japan were not exported and foreign breeds did not enter the country. However, during the Meiji era in 1868, the country became open to the outside world. Many new things came into the country, including dogs from other countries. Many mixed breed dogs resulted, and very few pure-bred Japanese dogs remained. In 1928, people who loved dogs wanted to maintain pure Japanese breeds, notably the Shiba Inu. They established the Nihonken Hozonkai project. The Japanese government named the Shiba Inu a National Monument, giving it protection.
Sadly for the world and for the Shiba Inu, World War II occurred and a major risk of extermination of the breed developed during the severe conditions in Japan at that time. Fortunately there were some people remaining who were dog lovers. They maintained and protected their animals and searched for others that seemed to be pure-breds. They found some living with hunters in mountainous areas. These dogs were gathered and bred with the goal of obtaining Shibas that looked like the ancient originals. The most famous result of this breeding work was "Naka-Go", born in 1948. Today, practically all Shiba Inu bloodlines can be traced back to him. So it is no exaggeration to say that only a few people protected and maintained the breed that is our Shiba today.