Samurai Champloo Inspired Dog Names

Taro and Jiro were a part of Japan's very first expedition to Antartica. The brothers were just two of fifteen dogs who worked as a sledding team. All of the canine members of this team were of the same breed as Taro and Jiro. In their native homeland of Japan, Sakhalin Huskies also called Karafuto-ken. These dogs were all accompanied by eleven researchers. By February 1958, Taro and Jiro's team was supposed to be replaced by another group of researchers and Karafuto-ken. Things got hazy when a freak snowstorm kicked up and forced the teams to change their plans drastically. 

The second team postponed their trip while the first the evacuated via helicopter. The researchers were unable to bring the dogs with them, so they chained up all of the Karafuto-ken and left some food behind before abandoning the dogs. The researchers initially had hoped to return for the dogs after a few weeks. The snowstorm was so fierce, however, that they had to wait for eleven months to return safely. By the time the researchers returned, they had found that seven of the dogs, unfortunately, passed away. To their surprise, they found that the remaining eight dogs had broken free and ran off into the wild. 

Taro and Jiro were to the only two dogs to have survived the ordeal. Though they initially ran off, the two brothers stuck together and stayed relatively close to their home base. After a long period of searching, the researchers eventually found Taro and Jiro in surprisingly healthy condition. Sadly, the other six dogs were never found. Taro and Jiro were promptly taken back home to Japan. There, the two dogs' story spread like wildfire and they were eventually celebrated as heroes. Their monument in Nagoya still stands if anyone is interested in visiting the landmark and paying homage to these brave dogs.