There aren’t supposed to be any native wolves left in Japan.
Once roaming wild across the nation’s abundant forests and mountains, the Japanese wolf’s population was decimated by disease and humans hunting them down in the name of protecting livestock. By the early 20th century, it was presumed extinct.
Yet to this day, the animal continues to transfix the minds of many. Worshipped in parts of the nation as a divine messenger and protector of farmland, the wolf appears in numerous legends and folk tales handed down for centuries in rural communities.