Have I told you guys about Hachiko before, Japan’s most famous dog? That’s HA-CHI-KO, but the i is barely said so it sounds more like HACH-KO. He was a Akita dog, which is a special Japan dog breed, and he was owned by a university professor who worked in Tokyo in the 20s. Every day Hachiko would accompany the professor to Shibuya station and would wait there all day for his master’s return in the evening. This repeated every day for years, until suddenly the professor suffered a massive stroke while teaching and died instantly. Loyal Hachiko waited for his master to return for ten years, always returning to the station every day, until he also died. He survived on the good will of the neighborhood people who would feed him and take care of him, atho no one could ever prevent him from returning to the station to wait for the professor.
Hachiko and his story were so loved that after he died, Tokyo residents voted to build a statue of him that remains to this day at the entrance to Shibuya station. It’s a well known landmark and if you tell someone “let’s meet at Hachiko” they will instantly understand where to meet.
In addition to the statue, when Hachiko died his body was preserved and eventually stuffed. You can see his remains at the National Science museum in Ueno.
This story is very beloved in Japan and is often used to teach children loyalty. Soon the story may spread to the world. Hollywood is currently filming a movie about Hachiko staring Richard Gene and Jason Alexander. Of course knowing Hollywood, they will turn Hachiko into a robotic transformer from the future… Well, let’s hope they don’t screw with the story too much.
hachiko
hachiko statue
hachiko’s stuffed remains in Ueno
Hope you enjoyed the article. If you spotted any mistakes or just want to say hey, be sure to email me or leave a comment. Thanks for reading!
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Interesting post. Any dog I’ve ever had is always trying to run away and Hachiko hangs out for 10 years waiting for his master to return? Not that’s loyalty!
UT
I think you may have mentioned this before. I see how it is a story of loyalty but I find it depressing. Poor Hachiko.
This also reminds me of a metro station in Moscow (Revolutionary Square Station) that has a statue of a dog that is supposedly good luck. You have to touch his nose, though!
I, too love the story of Hachiko, and in fact, was inspired to write a novel based on his life. For anyone who might be interested in learning more about Chuken Hachiko (the faithful Hachiko), my book is called HACHIKO WAITS. I found Hachiko’s loyalty very moving, and I hope my book does justice to his devotion.
On this topic, mentalfloss.com has a nice post about 6 loyal dogs like Hackiko that’s worth a quick read. The URL is: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18238
Thanks, Neil! Interesting stuff. Amazing the bonds some dogs form.
The present position of Hachiko isn’t the original. Since the station was expanded, they had the move him. This came from a 72-year old that grew up there. Oh, and good luck finding someone there; his enormous popularity attracts large crowds…”I’ll meet you in the haystack!” (><)
Did they move him when the statue was remade or afterwards?
Re: haystack – No kidding! But at least it gives you an idea of where to meet, I suppose.
i was so sad after this story…..i love animals
I agree it is a sad story, but an amazing one. An amazing dog.
I already knew the story and I loved it, so a couple of fdays ago my dad came and brought us the movie Hachiko; a dog’s story. I loved it and cried the entire evening the akita in the movie is red instead of white, but they sticked to the original story. The only changes are the location of the story, the master of Hachi isn’t Japanese and Hachi is red instead of white. I also have an Akita and the akita in the movie really has an Akit personality so it’s not somekind of robot dog
I’ll have to watch the movie. Since writing this post, I’ve discovered it is a remake of a Japanese movie made in the early 90s (I think). So if you enjoyed the Hollywood one, you may want to track down the original.