Geographical area
The first origins of the Japanese Sparrow would not be in the land of the Rising Sun, as its name suggests, but rather in China. It would have been imported to Japan in the 18th century.
Today, the Japanese Sparrow is bred all over the world.
Breed History
Japanese ornithologist Nobusuke Takatsukasa places the Japanese Sparrow’s origins in China. Via Japan, this species then spread to Europe in 1860 and other world regions.
It is, in fact, the domesticated variety of Capucin domino. The Japanese Sparrow is thus the fruit of the cross between Lonchura acuticauda (Long-tailed domino) and Lonchura striata (Large-mesh checkerboard).
