![]() ![]() The present shape of the Japanese cats is one established in the Edo period. As cats were brought into Japan on each occasion of trades with China, there seemed to be some changes, but judging from the fact that there were also some trades with Southeast Asia including Siam (Kingdom of Thailand) during the Sengoku Period (Period of Warring States) (Japan), it is considered to have another relation with the cats of these areas. ![]() In the Heian period they appeared in various waka (Japanese poems) and narratives, which implies that they were good friends of people. There is a legend that the beginning of Japanese cats was the ones imported around the Nara period from Chinese history as beneficial cats to protect important documents including sutras from rats, but there is a possibility that they had existed since before the birth of Christ partially because there is a specimen discovered from the Karakami remains of the Yayoi period (250 B.C.– 250 A.D.). In Japan which was an island separated from the continent since about ten thousand years ago, cats (domestic cats) originally did not exist. Besides, almost all Mike Cats are females. In relation to sex-linked inheritance, many of the cats with larger area of a white coat are females and those with colors other than white are males. ![]() The color of the coat is considered to be brought by genetic factors and some influence in the mother's body but sometimes atavism and so on may occur, which do not always bring the same color as the parents. A cat with a pattern of stripes is referred to as Tabby Cat, and sometimes called specifically in different terms one with brown stripes is Red Tabby or Orange Tabby, one with dark brown stripes is Brown Tabby, and one with grey stripes is Grey Tabby. A single color of either white or black, a belt-shaped pattern of stripes with light and shade, black patches or brown patches on a white coat, and three colors of white, brown and black, called Mike (Calico) Cat, are examples classified by color. They have a reputation for their beautiful coats of fur and their classification by color is also regarded as novelty by foreigners. According to another theory, long-tailed cats are said to have diminished because birth of a fork-tailed specter Nekomata (a mythical two-tailed monster cat) was shunned and short-tailed cats were preferred. One theory says that the tail is likely to become longer and narrower as going farther toward east, short in Kansai (regions including Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe) and curved in western regions. A short-tailed cat is relatively rare in the world, which forms one of the characteristics of the Japanese cats. In many cases a short-tailed cat has a complicatedly-curved tailbone, but as it is covered with fur it looks like a mere stump on the face of it. Some tails are slender and others extremely short, but there are also some slender but curved only at the tip. The fur of the whole body is not so long. The face has a straight nose and the fur of the ears is short. Japanese cats (nihon neko) are cats native to Japan which have long enjoyed the companionship with the Japanese. ![]()
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