/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>19706989
Oh no, not at all. It's because it has 'inu' in it that it makes sense for people in Japan to believe komainu are dogs and to treat them as such. As far as I can tell, I can't find anything to back the claim that 犬 originally meant protector. It's always been used with the connotations of a dog, with various theories as to the origins of the kanji (it's possible that anon's taking one such theory as gospel), but I think the more widely-accepted explanations for the origin of the kanji is one of three:
1. That 'inu' came from the Old Japanese 往ぬ (to leave or to be gone)
2. From the compound of 家 (house/home) and 寝 (sleep)
Both of which implied that the dog would guard the home while the master is away and
3. 狗, the ancient Japanese word for puppy

So yeah, it totally makes sense for Aunn to be a dog or even a puppy rather than a lion, I agree. Dogs are so much cuter and give off the universal understanding of loyal, faithful guardians than lions anyway.

Bullying!