The Japanese are crackers about agility
 In
1994, Mr. Nielsen was invited from Denmark to conduct the very first agility seminar and
competition. The history of agility in Japan started from there. Ah so good...until now. Masao
(Ujin) Yagyu reports on Japanese agility at the crossroads.
In 1997, the first judge test was held with Mr. Nielsen's
attendance, and the first Japanese official judges were selected. Currently, agility
competitions are held every weekend during the season in Japan.
 Today
approximately 300 people are actively involved in competition, while probably another 1,000
people are enjoying the sport in one way or another. The current generation of the competitors
is changing from a group of people who enjoy the sport with their dogs to one where they get
dogs just for the purpose of competing in the sport.
Breeding for better agility dogs
The number of Border Collies is increasing rapidly. We have many
Labrador Retrievers, mostly English field type, which is a distinct feature of Japanese
agility. Another popular breed which you find in Mini classes is the Welsh Corgi
You also see quite a few Golden Retrievers, German
Shepherd Dogs and Shelties. We have far fewer Belgians competing compared to Europe. It is too
bad that we do not have many people enjoying the sport with Japanese Dogs. I have not seen an
Akita.
 World
Championships 2000
This year the Japanese team took part in the
World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. We stayed in the Euro-hostel with the Croatian, French
and Portuguese national teams.
When the Croatian team arrived in Finland on
Thursday, their dogs were not there! There had been a mix up at Zurich airport and the
dogs had been put on a flight back to Croatia. The dogs were looked after by the handlers’
families and on Friday they were taken back to the airport in Croatia and sent on the same
journey again. They arrived on Friday, having missed the practice day to collect their dogs.
Here they are leaving the hotel at the end of the competition (see left).
We particularly enjoyed watching the handling of
the French team including Isabelle Deconinck (top right) and Christine
Charpantier (bottom right), the 2000 Champion which was wonderful.
 Disappointment
I believe that Japanese agility is at a very big turning point. The
reason is that Japanese Kennel Club (JKC) that has been promoting the sport of agility
has announced that they will no longer participate in the FCI's World Championship.
The agility in Japan has improved dramatically, partially
as a result of the JKC policy to promote the sport by dispatching handlers and dogs to the
World Championships. It is not surprising, therefore, that people are predicting it will affect
negatively on the development of Japanese agility.
To participate in the World Championships has been
a great goal and the dream for many of Japanese agility handlers. Everyone in agility is
disturbed by this decision. Furthermore, many of dog trainers, including myself, are really
disappointed.
We have purchased the whole set of agility equipment, or even suggested that dog owners
purchase the equipment for their own use.
The future
Even after JKC stops its support of the World Championship, we intend to keep contact with the
rest of the world and hope to participate in agility competitions all over the world. We
also hope to invite agility people as judges such as Ritva Herrala, one of the two judges of
this year's World Championship or instructors from the UK, the birthplace of agility as well as
other various countries. I hope to see you agility lovers then.
 About
the author...
Masao (Ujin) Yagyu is one of the agility players in Japan. He is a professional dog
trainer, and he owns a dog club and a school. He is also an official JKC agility judge. His
experience of agility started in 1994 when the sport was first introduced in Japan.
In 1996, his assistant represented Japan in the European
Championship held in Switzerland , running Ujin's own dog. Then in 1997, he went to the World
Championship in Denmark with two dogs. He won the Japanese Championship in 1998, and
participated in the World Championship in Slovenia as a Japanese representative.
Last year, Ujin won the Japanese Championship.
Unfortunately, he was not able to take part in the World Championship in Helsinki this year so
once again, his assistant participated with one of his dogs. Some day he hopes to participate
in a competition in UK with his dog.
You can contact Ujin on http://www02.so-net.ne.jp/~ujin
Cartoon dog from Naoko Yoshikawa's web site http://www.dml.com/colon/
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