Hachi – A Dogs Tale

January 24, 2012 in Puppies

I don’t know if you have ever heard of this dog but the story is incredibly sad but uplifting at the same time, people often speak of their unconditional bonds between pets and owners but none that I am aware of ever came as close as Hachi and his owner Hidesaburō Ueno. The kind of love and loyalty Hachi showed to Ueno is second to none! I had not heard of Hachi myself until I watched the film about him last year, Richard Gere plays the owner in this love story of a different kind, I’m not afraid to admit that it had me completely and utterly in tears, the kind where you find it hard to breath and I could not stop thinking of Hachi days later and often found myself getting upset again.

Credit - http://www.petsdo.com/

Hachi was an Akita and lived in Tokyo Japan in the 1920′s with a loving family, his master Ueno was a professor at the university of Tokyo and would walk Ueno to the railway station ever day to see his master off to work and would wait paitently for his return every evening, welcoming him at the Shibuya station gates. He did this every single day, he knew the route off by heart and soon the locals became very fond of Hachi too. But come one day in May in 1925 Ueno never returned home from the train that evening, he had died of a heart attack whilst at work and did not survive. Ueno’s family had to come and get Hachi that evening from the station. As time went on they tried to comfort Hachi as much as they could but nothing would heal his heart, every day for the next nine years Hachi went to the station by himself the exact time everyday waiting for Ueno to return but of course he never did, nine long years Hachi waited for his master until March 8, 1935 when he passed away himself .

The story is well known because after a year of Ueno’s passing one of his students witnessed Hachi going to the railway station every day, followed and kept track of this remarkable dog, the student wrote and published several articles on Hachi and the amazing loyalty he showed his owner. Eventually, national newspapers picked up the story and Hachiko soon became famous. He also earned the nickname “Chu-ken Hachiko” or “faithful dog Hachiko.”

Credit - http://www.japanese-akita.info/information/

In 1934, an artist erected a statue of Hachiko at Shibuya Station, and Hachi was present for its unveiling. The statue was recycled during World War II, but later resurrected by the original artist’s son in 1948. Another statue of Hachi stands in his hometown in front of the Odate Station and a third has been erected in front of the Akita Museum in Odate.

Hachiko finally gave his vigil when he died in 1935. His remains were stuffed and mounted and are kept at the National Science Museum in Tokyo.

Trailer of Hachi – A Dogs Tale