Hachikō

, was an Akita dog born in the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture remembered for his loyalty to his master.

Life

In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesamurō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno didn't return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.

Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After time, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he didn't see his friend among the commuters at the station.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. Realizing that Hachikō waited in vigil for his dead master, their hearts were touched. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for 10 years, with Hachikō appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station. [ [http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/218509/Dog_faithfully_awaits_return_of_his_master_for_past_11_years Dog faithfully awaits return of his master for past 11 years] story Posted Aug 18, 2007 by Chris V. (cgull) in Lifestyle of Digital journal. Accessed July 8, 2008]

Publication

That same year, another of Ueno's former students (who had become something of an expert on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home where he learned the history of Hachikō's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachikō from Shibuya Station.

Professor Ueno's former student returned frequently to visit the dog and over the years published several articles about Hachikō's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo's largest newspaper, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachikō became a national sensation. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachikō's vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.

Death

Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, of filariasis (heartworm). His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo. [ [http://www.kahaku.go.jp/english/news/2007/0417open/info.html Opening of the completely refurbished Japan Gallery of National Museum of Nature and Science] "In addition to the best-loved specimens of the previous permanent exhibitions, such as the faithful dog Hachikō, the Antarctic explorer dog Jiro and Futabasaurus suzukii, a plesiosaurus native to Japan, the new exhibits feature a wide array of newly displayed items." 2007 The National Science Museum, Tokyo. Accessed November 13, 2007]

Remembrance

Bronze statues

In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. After the war, Hachikō was not forgotten. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist who had since died, to make a second statue. The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. The station entrance near this statue is named "Hachikō-guchi", meaning "The Hachikō Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.

The Japan Times played a practical joke on readers by reporting that the bronze statue was stolen a little before 2AM on April 1, 2007, by "suspected metal thieves". The false story told a very detailed account of an elaborate theft by men wearing khaki workers' uniforms who secured the area with orange safety cones and obscured the theft with blue vinyl tarps. The "crime" was allegedly recorded on security cameras.

A similar statue stands in Hachikō's hometown, in front of Odate Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachikō was erected on the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.

Annual Ceremony

Each year on April 8th [Richard Webster, Is Your Pet Psychic?: Developing Psychic Communication with Your Pet, Page 141 Llewellyn Worldwide, 2002 ISBN 0738701939 Accessed via Google Books August 21, 2008] , Hachikō's devotion is honored with a solemn ceremony of remembrance at Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station. Hundreds of dog lovers often turn out to honor his memory and loyalty. [ American Kennel Club (listed author): The Complete Dog Book: The Photograph, History, and Official Standard of Every Breed Admitted to AKC Registration, and the Selection, Training, Breeding, Care, and Feeding of Pure-bred Dogs Page 269, Howell Book House, 1985 ISBN 0876054637 ] [Ruthven Tremain, The Animals' Who's Who: 1,146 Celebrated Animals in History, Popular Culture, Literature, & Lore, Page 105 Published by Scribner, 1984 - Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Jun 27, 2007 ISBN 0684176211 Accessed via Google Books August 21, 2008]

Hachikō in the media

1987 film

Hachikō was the subject of the 1987 movie nihongo|"Hachikō Monogatari"|ハチ公物語, [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093132/ Hachikō Monogatari] film's entry at IMDb.com] which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spiritual reunion with his master, the Professor. Considered a blockbuster success, the film was the last big hit for Japanese film studio Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo. [Anne Tereska Ciecko, Contemporary Asian Cinema: Popular Culture in a Global Frame, Pages 194-195 Berg Publishers, 2006 ISBN 1845202376 Accessed via Goggle Books August 21, 2008] [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093132/companycredits Company credits for Hachiko monogatari (1987)] from Internet Movie Database]

2008 film

"Hachiko: A Dog's Story", [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1028532/ Hachiko: A Dog's Story] entry at IMDb.com] to be released in 2008, is an American movie starring actor Richard Gere, directed by Lasse Hallström, about Hachikō and his relationship with the professor. The movie is being filmed in Rhode Island, and will also feature actress Joan Allen. [ [http://www.turnto10.com/northeast/jar/news.apx.-content-articles-JAR-2008-01-16-0011.html News - Turnto10 ] ]

Books

Hachikō is also the subject of a 2004 children's book named "Hachikō: The True Story of a Loyal Dog", written by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene. Another children's book, a short novel for readers of all ages called "Hachiko Waits", written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Machiyo Kodaira, was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2004.

Hachiko is featured prominently in the 2008 novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. [http://davidwroblewski.com/reviews.html] ] The novel revolves around the extraordinary relationship between the title character, his family and the dogs they raise.

Radio

In 1994, the Culture Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachikō barking from an old record that had been broken into several pieces. A huge advertising campaign ensued and on Saturday, May 28, 1994, 59 years after his death, millions of radio listeners tuned in to hear Hachikō bark. [ [http://www.petpublishing.com/dogken/breeds/akita.shtml Hachiko Speaks!] from petpublishing.com] This event was testimony to Hachikō's continuing popularity.

Other media

In the videogame Persona 3, a dog named Koromaru is a well known dog in the city who waits by the shrine where his master died. His Persona is ironically Cerberus, a mythological creature who guards the entrance of the Underworld. Koromaru bears a great resemblance to Hachiko but the only difference between them are the red eyes and the two gray moles above them.

In a few episodes of One Piece (during their first travels) a dog named Chou Chou stands in front and guards an old pet shop his master used to own until he died at the hospital. Before he left for the hospital he told Chou Chou to watch the shop while he was gone until he came back. Obviously he didn't. Knowing that his master was dead he guards the shop, obeying his masters orders and seeing that it's the only thing he has left of his beloved master. Later the shop is burned down and destroyed by one of Buggy the Clowns henchmen. Luffy (the shows hero) saves a box of pet food for the dog. Chou Chou in a way resembles Hachiko.

An episode of the popular children's anime "Pokémon" features an episode where a Ninetales waited hundreds of years for its master to return. The Ninetales leaves its master's former home at the end.

The animated television show Futurama features an episode titled "Jurassic Bark" in which the main character, Philip J. Fry, having been transported a thousand years into the future, discovers the fossilized remains of his dog from the year 1999. In spite of the technology developed by the year 3000, Fry ends up choosing not to bring the dog back to life based on the fact that he loved his memories of his dog and that the dog probably forgot about him. The last scene of the episode shows Fry's dog waiting for him outside of his old workplace for years until the dog's death.

In the Nintendo DS videogame The World Ends With You, the statue of Hachiko in Shibuya is a prominent plot point. Neku Sakuraba first meets Shiki Misaki and Yoyshiya Kiryu there, and he meets up with his friends in front of the statue at the end of the game.

ee also

*Greyfriars Bobby, the faithful Edinburgh dog
*List of famous dogs

References