Many Japanese once revered the wolf as Oguchi no Magami, or Large-Mouthed Pure God, but as Japan began its modern
transformation wolves lost their other-worldly status and became noxious animals who needed to be killed. By 1905
they had disappeared from the country. Brett Walker takes a deep look at the scientific, cultural, and environmental
dimensions of wolf extinction in Japan and tracks changing attitudes toward nature through Japan's long history.