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Tells the story of how and why wolves, once considered sacred, became extinct in Japan

Table of Contents

Foreword: A Strange Violent Intimacy / William Cronon

Preface

A Note to the Reader

Introduction

Science and the Creation of the Japanese Wolf

Culture and the Creation of Japan's Sacred Wolves

The Conflicts between Wolf Hunters and Rabid Man-Killers in Early Modern Japan

Meiji Modernization, Scientific Agriculture, and Destroying the Hokkaido Wolf

Wolf Bounties and the Ecologies of Progress

Wolf Extinction Theories and the Birth of Japan's Discipline of Ecology

Appendix: Wolves and Bears Killed and Bounties Paid by Administrative Region, 1877-1881

Notes

Works Cited

Index

About the Author

Brett L. Walker is Regents' Professor and department chairperson of history and philosophy at Montana State University, Bozeman, and the author of The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800.

Reviews

"The Lost Wolves of Japan is not just a history of the wolf in Japan, but is also about Montana (the author's home) and North America, about nature and wilderness, and about what it is to be human and animal." Monumenta Nipponica "Walker has written a well-researched book with a message to all who are interested not only in our representations of wolves but in human-nature relations in general." American Historical Review "This exquisite book provides an excellent introduction to the history of taxonomy and the development of ecological science throughout the world; it is also a wonderful examination of the human dimensions of wildlife in Japan: Highly recommended." Choice