It's not just Akita dogs! "Akita Three Chickens" is a natural monument in Odate City [Akita Prefecture]

Odate City is known for dogs three Akita chickens that have been designated as national and prefectural natural monuments: the Hinaidori, Koeyoshidori, and Kinpadori

The city is working to preserve and breed these precious Sankei, and you can see them in their healthy state at the Odate Local Museum and Akita Sankei Memorial Hall

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Hinai chicken was so delicious that it was used as annual tax for the Kubota domain

is said to have been created by crossing a native chicken that was originally raised in the Hinai region (Odate City, Kitaakita City, Kamikoani Village) a Shamo (gamecock) that was bred for cockfighting during the Edo period.

They are large in size, with records from a 1932 survey showing that males weighed approximately 3.75 kg and females approximately 2.6 to 3.0 kg (chickens currently raised for meat weigh approximately 2.3 to 2.7 kg)

nowadays kept as ornamental chickens, they were originally widely kept for food. Their meat is said to be relatively low in fat and mild in flavor, and in the Edo period it was close to wild birds such as pheasants and copper pheasants, which were considered to be the highest quality chicken meat. As a favorite meat of feudal lords, they were also paid as annual tax to the Kubota Domain (Akita Domain).

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Hinai chicken is a protected species and is not sold as meat

Pure Hinai chickens have poor reproductive ability and are prone to disease, so after the Meiji period they were replaced by chickens imported from overseas, causing a sharp decline in their numbers. Therefore, in order to protect the precious native Hinai chicken from extinction, it was designated a national natural in 1942 (Showa 17) as a "pure Japanese chicken that has not been bred since its birth."

Hinai chickens were designated as a natural monument, they can no longer be sold commercially, except for the personal consumption of the breeding farmers. However, there were many voices regretting the excellent quality of Hinai chicken's meat, and in 1973 (Showa 48) the Akita Prefectural Livestock Experiment Station began breeding improvements to make the most of this quality. After trying various crossbreedings, the Hinai Jidori .

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The "voice-loving chicken" can keep crowing for over 20 seconds without taking a breath

The Koeyoshidori a type of "long-crowing chicken" with a long crowing voice one of Japan's three longest-crowing chickens Totenko chicken of Kochi Prefecture and Tomaru chicken of Niigata Prefecture . These chickens were bred during the Edo period through repeated breeding with the aim of crowing for a long time, and samurai, wealthy farmers, and wealthy merchants competed to see who could make the longest crowing.

It is said to have originated in the Yoneshiro River basin in Akita Prefecture, including areas such as Odate and Kazuno (the Kazuno and Odate theories exist), and is now bred in Akita, Aomori, and Iwate prefectures

It is the male that crows the longest, and as an ornamental breed, both the length of the voice and the appearance are important, and contests are held in various places associated with the Nagacrow Chicken. It is a large chicken, with males weighing 4-5kg, and in Aomori Prefecture, the length of the voice is the main focus, while in Akita Prefecture, both the voice and the appearance have been improved

If we consider only the length of the call, Aomori Prefecture is said to be the longest in the country, with some chickens crowing for 12 to 17 seconds, and even longer than 20 seconds. They "Kokko go-oh" and raise the "oh" part, continuing to croak as long as they can hold their breath.

Even for humans, it is difficult to keep singing for 20 seconds, so the sight of them proudly crowing is truly moving. When they finish crowing, their proud faces say, "Hey females, did you hear my voice?" and are a sight to behold. The vocal chicken is a national natural monument .

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Very short-tempered and violent. Kinpachi-kei, a breed used for cockfighting

Kinpadori is a mutant breed that was born by chance when Kinpachi, a fishmonger living in Odate in the late Edo period, crossbred his fish to create a stronger fighting cock by crossbreeding a Shamo and a Hinai chicken.

Improvements continued after that, and it is said that the current body shape was fixed during the Meiji period. They are relatively small chickens, weighing about 1.7 kg for males and 1.2 kg for females, but their predominantly black appearance and short tempers give them the appearance of a breed for cockfighting. In the Odate region, people who are short-tempered and quick to fight are called "Kinpa." They were designated a natural monument of Akita Prefecture

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The Akita Sankei Memorial Museum, which protects the bloodline of the Akita Sankei and focuses on breeding

The Akita Three Chickens Memorial Museum is the Odate Local Museum . It exhibits the three Akita chickens - Hinai-dori (national), Koeyoshi-dori (national), and Kinpachi-dori (prefectural) - which are designated as national and prefectural natural monuments, and is a memorial museum built with the aim of protecting and propagating them in order to preserve their bloodlines.

Every year, the museum hatches and raises eggs received from members of the Akita Sankei Preservation Society, which then raise them at the members' homes and hold exhibitions. For the exhibitions, the best young chickens are selected from the chickens brought in, and they are marked with numbered leg bands and recorded in a ledger

Akita Three-Piece Memorial Museum <Information>

• Facility name: Akita Three-Cat Memorial Museum
• Address: 1 Shishigamori, Shakanai, Odate City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0186-43-7133 (Odate Local Museum)
• Opening hours: 9:00-16:30
• Opening period: April to November
• Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a public holiday) / December to March
• Admission fee: Free
• URL: Akita Three-Piece Memorial Museum
• access
• Railway/Approximately 10 minutes by bus from Odate Station on the Ou Main Line, approximately 3 minutes on foot from Shishigamori bus stop
• Car: Approximately 4 minutes from Akita Expressway Odate-kita IC

Google Map

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"Akita Prefecture Koeyoshidori, Hinaidori, Kinpachidori Exhibition" where you can see the current state of Akita's three chickens

The three Akita chicken breeds, Hinai, Koeyoshi, and Kinpachi, are carefully raised by members. Until the early 1970s, each preservation society for the three chicken breeds operated separately, but in 1972 the Akita Prefecture Koeyoshi, Hinai, and Kinpachi Chicken Preservation Society , and have since worked to protect and breed the three chicken breeds as a single preservation society.

As part of its activities, the Akita Prefecture Koeyoshi Chicken Hinai Kinpachi Preservation Society holds exhibitions in the spring and autumn, which are open to the public. Koeyoshi Chicken also holds the Akita Prefecture Koeyoshi Chicken Exhibition during the Odate Cherry Blossom Festival in spring, where chickens compete to see who can sing the loudest, and the beautiful sounds of the chickens echo throughout the venue. For information about the dates and venues of these exhibitions, please contact the Akita Sankei Memorial Museum or the Akita Prefecture Koeyoshi Chicken Hinai Kinpachi Preservation Society

Akita Prefecture Voice Chicken Hinai Chicken Kinpachi Preservation Society ＜Information＞

• Hosted by: Akita Prefecture Voice Chicken Hinai Chicken Kinpachi Preservation Society
• Phone number: 090-9532-6262

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Hinai Jidori chicken: Quality is maintained through extremely strict control standards

Hinai chickens were originally large, but by the 1970s, due to factors such as poor reproductive ability and poor breeding conditions, the weight of males had dropped to about 1.6 to 1.9 kg and females to about 1.2 to 1.4 kg, half of what it was in the early Showa period

The Akita Prefectural Livestock Experiment Station first crossed selected Hinai chickens with those that showed excellent growth to create a robust Hinai chicken, and then worked to stabilize it. This newly created Hinai chicken was named "Akita Hinai chicken."

As a result of crossbreeding these Akita Hinai chicken males with females of various breeds, it was found that the hybrid with the Rhode Island Red, a red-haired breed native to America, had the best meat quality and was also robust. This "Hinaijidori" and mass breeding began.

, only Hinai Jidori chickens raised and produced under the production and management standards of the Akita Prefecture Hinai Jidori Brand Certification System certifies that they are genuine Hinai Jidori chickens,

Hinai Jidori Chicken Production Management Standards

• The chicks are a first generation hybrid produced by crossbreeding Akita Hinai chickens (male) with Lord chickens (female)
• Rearing period Female: Must be reared for 150 days or more from the date of hatching
• Male: Must be kept for more than 100 days from the date of hatching
• Rearing method: After 28 days of age, the animals must be kept in a free-range or cage-free environment
• Rearing density: After 28 days of age, the birds must be reared at a density of 5 birds or less per square meter

In other words, only chicks born from Rhode Island Red females mated with Akita Hinai chicken males (first generation hybrids) are Hinai Jidori, and subsequent offspring cannot be called Hinai Jidori. Although not stated in this condition, some farms raise chickens in even stricter, sterile conditions

Hinai Jidori chickens are raised with such care that they are used in a variety of dishes, including Odate's famous Kiritanpo hotpot, as well as yakitori and oyakodon, and are highly praised as a top-quality ingredient

If you visit Odate City, be sure to try the authentic taste

Hinai Jidori <Information>

• Akita Prefecture Official Website "Hinajidori Net"
• URL: Hinai Jidori Net

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