is an overall designation for game fowl in Japan. There are seven recognised breeds of Shamo chicken in Japan, all of which are designated Natural Monuments of Japan. The Shamo breeds are thought to derive from fighting chickens of Malay type brought from Thailand in the early part of the seventeenth century.
History
The Shamo breeds are thought to derive from fighting chickens of Malay type brought from Thailand in the early part of the seventeenth century or early Edo period (1603–1867). The Japanese word Shamo derives from Siam, the former name of Thailand. The birds have been selectively bred for several hundred years for their fighting ability. Some were imported to Western countries in the 1970s; in the twenty-first century, the birds are reported from four countries outside Japan: Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Breeds
The seven recognised Shamo breeds designated as Natural Monuments of Japan are:
Ehigo-Nankin-Shamo, a slightly taller and more slender variant of the Nankin-Shamo from Niigata O-Shamo ("large Shamo", ) Kinpa Ko-Shamo ("small Shamo", ) Nankin-Shamo (Nankin Shamo, ) Yakido or Ygido () Yamato-Shamo or Yamato Gunkei
Other Shamo variants are the Chu-Shamo ("medium Shamo", ) and the Chibi Shamo, the bantam of the Yamato Gunkei.
In the West
In Western countries, the breed name Shamo includes both the O-Shamo and the Chu-Shamo. In the United Kingdom, different weight ranges are given in the British Poultry Standards for the two types within the Shamo breed; the Ko-Shamo, Nankin Shamo, Yakido and Yamato Gunkei are recognised as distinct breeds. The Entente Européenne recognises the Shamo, Ko-Shamo, Yakido and Yamato Gunkei, and lists the Chu-Shamo and Nankin Shamo as unrecognised. The Australian Poultry Standards list only one form of Shamo, which has a minimum weight of . The American Poultry Association recognises the Shamo as a breed, both full-sized and bantam.
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APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
[Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association] (2011 ). Australian Poultry Standards, second edition. Ballarat, Victoria: Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association Limited. .
Transboundary breed: Shamo. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed February 2025.
Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
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Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. .
Masaoki Tsudzuki (2003). Japanese native chickens. In: Hsiu-Luan Chang, Yu-chia Huang (editors) (2003). The Relationship between Indigenous Animals and Humans in APEC Region. Taipei: Chinese Society of Animal Science, pages 91-116.