Here are 20 facts about the Japanese Bobtail. The list is deliberately compact and succinct to make it very readable on a smartphone.
- Gloria Stephens in her book Legacy of the Cat (excellent book on the cat breeds) kicks off her description of this cat breed with the words “A stately cat”. An interesting beginning, I think and it may partly be because of “a sculptured head” to use her words again. Any quotes on this page come from that book.
- This is a natural breed from Japan. The word “natural” means evolved from nature rather than created out of, for example, a genetic mutation which is the case with many cat breeds.
- This is a long, lean, elegant cat with a pom-pom tail.
- There is normally a lot of white fur with markings that appear to have been painted on. This is the good luck mi-ke (‘mee-kay’) pattern.
- You often see black and ginger blobs indicating a calico cat.
- There are both longhaired and shorthaired Japanese Bobtails.
- It’s believed that the Japanese Bobtail entered Japan around 1,000 years ago from Korea but I think you’ll find the history is a little vague.
- You will see pictures of Japanese bobtails in ancient paintings and scrolls.
- In the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, in the Freer Gallery of Art, you will see “two lovely longhaired Japanese Bobtails…in a large fifteenth century painting”.
- This is a medium-sized cat. The lines are long and clean and the bone structure is not extreme.
- The cat has high cheekbones and large, oval eyes with the face having a “distinctive Japanese cast”.
- The breed standard guides breeders to creating cats with long noses. The muzzle should be quite broad and “rounding into a whisker break”.
- The famous tail should resemble a rabbit’s tail. The hair fans out like a pom-pom.
- The tail should be between two and three inches in length. It can be straight, angled or curved.
- Each tail is different from any other. It’s a bit like a human fingerprint.
- The tail might be rigid or flexible and “is composed of one or more curves, angles or kinks”.
- The tail should be in harmony with the overall appearance of the cat.
- As for colours, this breed is recognised in all colours of all divisions. However, traditionally, the tortoiseshell-and-white is the favourite among aficionados. This is the calico cat using American terminology.
- As for temperament, the breed is described as being strong and healthy, active and intelligent, enjoying the company of their human companions. They are sociable and talkative.
- Gloria Stephens says that “Some owners say that, instead of meowing these cats sing”.
Japanese folk-myth ‘bakeneko’ – reason why Japanese Bobtail is popular in Japan
