1941 · 1940s
The Shamo Becomes a Natural Monument
The Shamo is designated a *Natural Monument of Japan* under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, cementing its place as a national heritage breed and guaranteeing legal protection for its breeders.
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sortableYear: 1941
In 1941, the Japanese Ministry of Education formally designated the Shamo — together with five other poultry breeds — as a 天然記念物 (tennen kinenbutsu, “Natural Monument”) under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. The law, originally passed in 1919 and substantially revised in 1950, protects animals, plants, minerals, and geological features of cultural or scientific significance; the Shamo was one of the first breeds of domesticated animal to be included.
The designation made the keeping and breeding of Shamo birds a matter of national interest, and protected them from the kind of crossbreeding or alteration that might have compromised their distinct type. It also implicitly acknowledged that the breed’s pit tradition, although ancient, was not its future: cockfighting had been illegal in Japan since the Meiji reforms of the 1870s, and the Shamo had been kept, for the better part of a century, as a heritage breed.
The 1950 revisions to the law extended the designation to seven Shamo varieties — the Ō-Shamo, Chū-Shamo, Ko-Shamo, Nankin-Shamo, Yakido, Yamato-Shamo, and Kinpa — each treated as a distinct breed and each the subject of its own conservation protocol.