She's a cutie.

And yup an Akita was used to protect the emperor, they were actually companion dogs to samurai's so they date back a few hundred years and they were also used in pit fighting. It's the largest of the Japanese breeds with the Shikoku coming in second and the Shiba Inu coming in third. There is a difference between the Japanese breed and American breed Akita's though and that is that the Japanese ones aren't as heavy boned as the American ones. If you're wondering why I know this it's because I got some of it from a book and the other stuff is because well I have a slight fascination with Japan and other parts of Asia.