Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hachiko: The Story of Faithfulness


I want to name my dog Hachiko. Pretty sure after this story, you will too.

We passed his statue in Shibuya once, I’m pretty sure Robert said something to the extent of   
“We just passed through the busiest intersection in the world and oh yeah, here’s a statue of a dog.  It’s a common meeting place for people”. 
Middle of the busiest intersection in the world
 The name Hachiko was only familiar to me because of the train line, the JR Hachiko. 
Now I realize they named it after the ever faithful dog.
 Somehow I stumbled upon the story behind the statue. Here’s the SparkNotes version (or the real one if you want it…):

Circa 1924 in Shibuya, Japan, there was a professor with a dog named Hachiko. They had this totally special bond, and completely adored each other. Every day, Hachiko would walk the professor to the train station and see him off. Then, at the end of the Professor’s work day, Hachiko would come meet the Professor at the train station and they would walk home together. 

Special right?

Then one day, the Professor died while at work. Hachiko waited and waited at the train station. He continued to go to the train station for his beloved master, arriving at the exact time as the Professor’s train. For the next nine years, up until his death, Hachiko continued in this routine. He started to get attention and eventually became so well known, he was published in newspapers, had a statue of him built at the Shibuya train station (Hachiko got to be at the unveiling of his own statue), and became the national symbol of loyalty. 
The last picture of Hachiko

He died ten years after his master.

His story became so well known, Hollywood had to make a movie out of Hachiko. The trailer surprised me and made me all misty at work… 

Actually, thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I met a dog during my Petsmart days named Hachiko. Added bonus, Hachi means the number 8 in Japanese. My favorite number? 8. Meant to be. 
The infamous statue/meeting place outside Shibuya station
 Anyways, just some Japanese culture to brighten/enlighten your day. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jaquielyn,
    I saw the movie of Hachi, it's a tear jerker.
    Patty

    ReplyDelete