Hachikō the Loyal Akita Dog

Hachi

I met an American Akita dog named Honey last Summer outside a cafe, I was instantly mesmerised, Honey is probably the most gorgeous dog I have ever seen. While searching for more information on Akita dogs, I stumbled upon this incredibly touching story about an Akita dog in Japan who died almost 80 years ago, the dog was Hachiō.

There weren't much details on the dog in the English language websites, I had to rely on Google Translate to piece together Hachikō's story:

At Shibuya Station

Hachikō was a Japanese Akita dog born in November 1923 in the Akita Prefecture in northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. The puppy was named Hachi, Japanese for number eight, the 8th puppy of the liter.

Two months after his birth, Hachi was sold for JPY30 and placed inside a rice sack on a 20 hours train ride to Tokyo, where his new owner, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno, worked as a lecturer at the Imperial University (now University of Tokyo).

Professor Ueno was a dog lover who had a special interest in Akita dogs. Beside the new puppy, he also had a 7 year-old dog called S and a 8 year-old Pointer called John. Together, the three dogs would sent the Professor off to work in the morning and greeted him at Shibuya station or at the University gate in the evening, that was their routine everyday.

Waiting for Professor Ueno

On 21 May 1925, only Hachi accompanied the Professor to the University and returned alone to wait for him in the evening, the dog waited till dark but the Professor never show up. Unbeknown to Hachi, Professor Ueno died of a stroke earlier that day while giving a presentation.

For the following three days, Hachi hid in a room where Professor Ueno's things were kept and refused to eat anything. After the Professor's funeral on the 25th, the three dogs continued to wait for their master at the station.

Receiving treats

Unable to care for Hachi, Professor Ueno's widow first placed the dog in the care of her relatives in Nihonbashi, following by in the home of friends in Asakusa, both are districts of Tokyo. During these two years, Hachi was unable to settle into his new environment and was once again re-homed, this time to Professor Ueno's old gardener who lived near the Ueno's residence.

As a sign of dedication to his old master, Hachi showed up at Shibuya station everyday to wait for the Professor, and he did that for the next 8 years.

With member of the public

During the day in which the dog waited at the station, Hachi was treated as a stray, he was harassed by hostile passerby and scolded by station staff for entering the station yard. This continued until one day in 1932, a member of the Nihonken Hozon Kai (Preservation Society of Great Japanese Dogs) took an interest in him and published Hachi's story on the newspaper.

The article praised Hachi's loyalty, a prized virtue in the Japanese society, and nicknamed him Chuken Hachikō - Faithful Dog, Duke Hachi - it also changed people's attitude towards him. Members of the public would flock to Shibuya station to catch a glimpse of the remarkable dog, bringing treats and food.

With station staff

On the morning of 8 March 1935, Hachi's lifeless body was found in an alley not far from Shibuya station. He was brought into the station's luggage room, one of his favourite places, where Professor Ueno's widow and station staff were photographed praying for his soul. Hachi was 11 years old.

Praying over Hachi's body

It was widely believed that Hachi has died of stomach rapture from a yakitori skewer, it took scientist 75 years after Hachi's death in 2010 to confirmed it was cancer that killed the dog.

Hachi's stuffed body is now on display at the National Museum of Natural and Science in Tokyo, with his flesh and bones buried beside Professor Ueno in Aoyama Cemetary. A bronze statue of the dog was erected outside Shibuya station honouring his loyalty and is now the symbol of Shibuya, it is also a popular meeting spot.

The story of Hachikō touched me deeply and seeing the last photo made me sob uncontrollably, I am very happy to have found this story and I want to tell it as Hachi was truly a remarkable dog.

Source: The Asahi Shimbun, Shibuya Net, Tresure Box, Wikipedia.
Images: I do not own the copyrights and I will remove them upon request.