Firstly, names need to be explained, as they can be confusing. Although not a translation of the word, “Shamo” can be understood to mean “Game bird from Japan”. Therefore Ko Shamo means miniature game, not miniature version of the large fowl. Nankin Shamo means Game bird from Nankin. [The Japanese characters for “Shamo” can also be translated as “Gunkei”, hence the strange name of the Yamato game bird.]

The word SHAMO on its own refers to the large fowl, but that can be further divided into O Shamo (large size) and Chu Shamo (medium size). Both of these are the same breed, which comes in a variety of weights – all above 3kg (nearly 7lbs) being correct.