Hachiko ~A Lesson in Eternal Friendship & Loyalty

Hachikō (November 10, 1923–March 8, 1935), golden brown with cream color on upper face

Hachikō was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture

In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner’s life Hachikō saw him out 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 did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend Hachiko was waiting.

Hachikō was loyal and every day for the NEXT NINE years he waited sitting there amongst the town’s folk at Shibuya Station waiting for his professor. The wife of the professor eventually moved away and didn’t take Hachiko with her. Hachiko lived outside, found scraps of food and kind locals gave him food also. The locals who witnessed this was so overwhelmed and moved by the love and loyalty of Hachiko. Every day without fail Hachiko would wait at the same spot at the same station for the Professor. Amazing!!

Hachikō died on March 8, 1935. He was found on a street in Shibuya. His heart was infected with filarial worms and 3-4 yakitori sticks were found in his stomach.  His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.

In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling. The locals wanted to honour Hachiko. It reminded them of what was important in their lives. What should be important in everyone’s lives that a simple dog taught them.

The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. 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.