FUKUOKA—Lieutenant Toshikazu Murakami has worked with 23 partners so far in his 37-year career on the police force here, and he has had to clean up the messes left behind by each of them.

Fukuoka prefectural police confirmed that Murakami, 58, is the longest-serving police dog trainer in Japan.

He currently heads the police dog division of the prefectural police’s forensic identification department.

Looking at images of dogs displayed at the police canine training facility, Murakami fondly recalled his experiences with the animals, including rescue missions and finding key evidence in a narcotics investigation.

“Tom was long unable to move by himself so I stayed close to him all the time for an entire year to look after him,” Murakami said, moving through the photos. “Ace was a troublemaker but found many people listed as missing.”

Murakami has always loved animals. He kept a mongrel, squirrel and parakeet as pets in his childhood, when he dreamed of becoming an animal handler at a zoo.

A German shepherd named Taga was Murakami’s third pet canine, and the first large one.

Believing “proper discipline was essential for keeping the dog,” his parents had Murakami attend a private training institute during his second year at high school.

Murakami’s interest in dog training grew when Taga became able to sit, lie flat or do other tasks on command.

He searched a telephone book for the names of training centers around Japan, and sent a letter to each of them explaining his dream of “working as a handler.” He also toured those centers.

In 1980, a training facility informed Murakami that the Fukuoka prefectural police had been keeping police dogs since 1974. He decided to join the police force after graduating from high school.

“I thought that training dogs who work at crime scenes would be rewarding,” Murakami said.

He was hired by the prefecture police and deployed to a police box. After one and a half years, Murakami landed his dream position in 1984 when he was put in charge of the crime-fighting canines.

The job was not always glamorous. In addition to regularly training and feeding the dogs, Murakami had to clean their kennels and mow the grass on the 6,000-square-meter site of the center.

His dogs’ acute sense of smell helped senior officers in their searches and investigations at crimes scenes. Murakami also checked windward areas and other places that the canines’ sniffing could not cover.

After a report came in that a gangster had buried stimulant drugs on a mountain in 1993, Murakami was chosen as an assistant in the search unit.

Dogs named Kuro and Ken searched for a scent on mountainous roads for three hours but failed to find the drugs.

The search was about to end, but Murakami saw the dogs sniffing around his feet where a patch of grass had withered.

Murakami poked the soil with a stick, and it hit something under the surface. It was a container containing a kilogram of stimulants.

MOUNTAIN MISSIONS

Murakami said his time with Rugger--the first dog he trained from scratch—was especially unforgettable.

In March 2019, a junior high school girl had a quarrel with her father and ran away from home.

After receiving a report about the missing girl, Murakami began searching a park near the home. Rugger quickly headed for a public restroom and entered the men’s side. The student was sleeping there.

A year later, an elderly woman living at the foot of a mountain went missing.

Another dog could not find her during the two-day search on the mountain, so Murakami and Rugger took over the mission.

The woman was using a pushcart, so police did not think she traveled far. But Rugger indicated that police should check higher locations.

Murakami believed in his partner and climbed up the mountain. He called the woman’s name and heard a reply. She was crouching below a cliff.

Her relatives applauded “the dog who found her out,” bringing tears to the eyes of the police station’s chief.

RETIREMENT TALK

Murakami said he has so many memories of his canines, including their last moments, that he cannot detail them all.

Most retired police dogs continue living at their kennels at the center. Murakami disinfects their bedsores and pushes their bellies to help them urinate.

He cared for a retired dog for an entire year, while another died soon after developing cancer.

Murakami once placed a plate of food outside the kennel’s grounds for a dog that had already died. That mistake deepened his sorrow, realizing again that the dog was gone.

Police dogs were used 650 times in 2021 in Fukuoka Prefecture, fivefold over 10 years. Eighty percent of the cases were searches for missing people.

The number of canines kept at the center has doubled to six since Murakami’s arrival, while seven people take care of the animals, up from three.

Murakami, who will retire in a few years, is nurturing the next generation of dog handlers, including giving lectures outside Fukuoka Prefecture.

He instructs young trainers to be particularly watchful of the dogs’ ear movements and facial expressions.

Murakami said refining the ability to observe dogs will put trainers on the fast track to building trust with the animals.