Cat breed · Japan
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, and strongly represented in folklore, though other colorations are also accepted by breed standards.
Personality: This breed is good for families.
Behavior: Generally speaking, members of the breed are active, intelligent cats, with a strongly human-oriented nature, are easier to train to perform tricks than most breeds, and are more likely to enjoy learning human-mediated activities like walking on a harness and leash, and playing fetch. They are very attentive, alert felines that notice a lot. Considered an unusually "talkative" breed, they often interact vocally with people. Their soft voices are capable of nearly a whole scale of tones, leading to a folk belief that they can sing.
Health: Recent scientific studies on cat genetics led by researchers has indicated that the Japanese Bobtail breed is one of the most genetically diverse of pedigree breeds. Compared with other breeds, Japanese Bobtails tend to have smaller litters with the kittens being proportionally larger at birth and developing at a faster rate. Kitten mortality rates are reported to be comparatively low.
Grooming: This breed has a minimal to medium amount of shedding, due to its short fur. Its coat is easy to groom.
Care: They enjoy climbing and can be prone to obesity.
History: 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.
