THE SHOKOKU                 <return to JAPANESE BREEDS index

The most distinguishing factor of the SHOKOKU is its splendid tail feathers and very long, dragging saddle feathers. It is said to have a long crow, but not to rival the Totenko, the Tomaru, the Koeyoshi and the Gashiwa. The SHOKOKU is a popular breed in Japan and has many variations according to regions where it is bred. These birds, however, must have red faces, red earlobes and yellow legs. Any other colours here in the wattles or legs are the results of outcrosses to other breeds.

The PHOENIX of Europe and America are not descendant nor have anything in common with the Shokoku.

The SHOKOKU was imported out of China and is thought to have been kept for more than 2,000 years.

Purebred birds of this breed are now in Germany and are being carefully guarded. Within the next 3 to 5 years, they should be available to interested parties throughout Europe. Since the breed is so old and has been bred in different parts of Japan, there have arisen also distinctly different types of SHOKOKU. Some being more meat-producing and others more for the showcase. The birds, however, should have at least a 90cm tail, have mostly red faces, and a disqualification is if the saddle hackle does not touch and drag the ground.

Here is shown the most popular colour of the SHOKOKU, the Shirosaza, or the Black Breasted Silver (Silver Duckwing - UK). Whites have been seen in photographs, and the third colour, the Goshiki (Five-Coloured) Type, even though mentioned amoung breeders and set in the official Japanese standard, is unknown in the west and rare in Japan. The Shirosaza colour is practically the only colour now bred. Of the single-combed long-tail breeds from Japan, the colour Black Breasted Red, or Red Duckwing, is reserved for the Totenko and the Black Breasted Silver/Silver Duckwing, for the Shokoku.

Shokoku are popular in Mie and Kyoto Prefectures

JAPANESE STANDARD FOR THE SHOKOKU- sent to me by Julia Keeling, Asian Gamefowl Society, Contact person for UK and the British Isles:

SHOKOKU

Single comb, red earlobe, red brown eye colour

Weight: cock 2000g, hen 1600g (young birds 1300 ­ 1600g)

White hackled, 5 coloured and white

Tail over 60cm long and has 30 angle in cocks, 20 angle in hens

It was believed, and I had written that the SHOKOKU had given rise to many other breeds of long tailed fowl: Minohiki, Onagadori, Totenko and Satsumadori. This was also told to me personally by a major Japanese breeder, but in results of DNA test did not reveal any close relationship with the other known Japanese Long-tails.

The SHOKOKU is referred to by many as the honoured ancestor of all the Long tails, but the TOTENKO and the ONAGADORI have been grouped genetically as most closely related family members of the Long-tail genetic tree and no close direct link has been found in DNA research between the Shokoku and the others. The Minohiki were not included in the studies.

It is still possible that the Shokoku is the ancient grandparent of many Long-tails and that the different populations of Longtail breeds have grown distinctly different on the genetic level as well.

Reference: (Phylogenetic Studies on the Japanese Native Breeds of Chickens, Poultry Science, 21 (6) 1984 by Ikuo Okada, Yoshio Yamamoto, Tsutomu Hashiguchi and Shin-ichi Ito)