My uncle worked in the shipyards in Richmond, CA during WWII. One day a Japanese ship was towed into the yeards. The crew was taken into custody as POWs, but there was also a mother dog and a litter of pups aboard. My uncle took one of the pups home to his 2 little girls, and they named her Judy. Judy (an odd looking dog) was a part of their family for nearly 20 years. No American had ever seen a dog like that, but one day the family encountered an elderly Japanese man in the park. He told them that Judy was a typical Japanese dog. She looked like a miniature Akita with the curled tail, but she had a short, fawn colored coat. She was a wonderful dog. She was so tiny when my uncle brought her home that he carried her in his coat pocket.
We think that Judy was a Shiba Inu, or a mix with a lot of SHiba in her.
You’re description of Judy fits the Shiba Inu to a T.