Canis lupus hodophilax, the Japanese wolf, was once widespread across the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Revered in Japanese folklore as a guardian of the mountains and fields ...

The Japanese variety is said to have lived in mountains on the main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. The last known Japanese wolf was caught in 1905 in Higashi-Yoshino, Nara Prefecture.