Hiroshi Kamisato (Japan)

When I was 18 and it was then that my mother gave me permission to start breeding dogs. That began my life-long involvement with dogs. The first dog I bred was an American Cocker Spaniel. Since 1962 I have bred and exhibited American Cocker Spaniels. One of my best show results was with the American Cocker Spaniel that received Reserve Best-In-Show at the FCI Asian Section Show.

After that I have bred and exhibited Great Danes, Scottish Terriers, Maltese, and Italian Greyhounds. At this time, I am breeding Japanese Chin. In 1986 I received the JKC Top Breeder Award, and achieved JKC Champion title with Cocker Spaniels bred in 7 different colours. In 1999, at celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the JKC, I was honoured as recipient as the Top Breeder Award.

In 1978, I qualified as a judge by JKC and was approved to judge American Cocker Spaniel as my first breed. Finally, I qualified as an FCI & JKC All-Breed judge in 1984, and have judged at many shows including FCI International Dog Shows throughout Japan.

I have judged many FCI World Dog Shows, the latest being in Helsinki this year, the Royal Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney Shows, the AKC Eukanuba National Championship Show, and Eukanuba World Challenge. All Breed Show in Spain, Denmark, USA , Argentina, New Zealand, Korea and overall I have judged for major shows in more than 30 different countries (Asia, Europe, South and North America, Oceania.), and continue to judge in different countries.

I have been a member of JKC since 1987. I served as a Secretary-General and Executive Director for 19 years until May 2006.  During that period, I have also served as a member of the executive committee of the Asian section for the FCI.

Since 1990, I have helped arrange for several pure breeds, namely the Thai Ridgeback Dog, Korean Zindo Dog and Taiwan Dog, to achieve official recognition by FCI, and in 1999 I have also assisted in the category division of between Akita and American Akita. Being able to assist in the training of younger generations of judges for both the JKC and the Asian Kennel Union was a great honour and one of the most memorable moments of my lifetime.

At this stage of my life, my greatest wish is to be able to judge overseas whenever I have an opportunity, and I would like to share such great moments and exchange ideas within the international dog profession. In addition, I would like to see the quality dogs as much as I can in order to gain more knowledge of breeds. I would like to devote my time to write about the introduction of local breeds throughout Asia as well as a history of Japanese Chin and also an encyclopaedia of dog breeding.