The Hokkaido dog is one of the Japanese dogs which is from Hokkaido prefecture in Japan. There are six types of purebred dogs that originated in Japan. They are Hokkaido, Akita, Shiba, Kai, Kishuu, and Shikoku. These are said to have the same ancestry. In the public interest incorporated foundation “Nihon Ken Hozonkai<nowiki>"</nowiki> has designated those six ones as the Japanese dogs and each of which is a national natural memorial. The Hokkaido dog is known as a character of the Japanese mobile company SoftBank. Therefore many Japanese people may know or see this breed at least once through the animal TV programs or TV commercials even if they are not familiar with it.