Every day between 1925 and 1935, Hachikō the dog waited at Tokyo’s Shibuya train station in hopes that his dead master would return.
Hachikō the dog was more than a pet . As the canine companion to a university professor , Hachikō patiently wait his owner ’s return from work at their local gear station each evening .
But when the prof died suddenly one day at work , Hachikō was left await at the place — for nearly a decade . Every 24-hour interval after his schoolmaster passed , Hachikō returned to the railroad train post , often to the mortification of the employee who worked there .
Wikimedia CommonsAfter a hundred , the narrative of Hachikō stay both inspiring and devastating the globe over .
Wikimedia CommonsAfter a century, the story of Hachikō remains both inspiring and devastating the world over.
Hachikō ’s history of cultism soon won over the post employees , and he became an outside sensation and a symbol of loyalty . This is the report of Hachikō , account ’s most fast frump .
How Hachikō Came To Live With Hidesaburō Ueno
Manish Prabhune / FlickrThis statue commemorates the meeting of Hachikō and his master .
Hachikō the Akita wasbornon Nov. 10 , 1923 , on a farm place in Japan ’s Akita Prefecture .
In 1924 , Professor Hidesaburō Ueno , who taught in the agriculture department at Tokyo Imperial University , develop the pup and brought him to live on with him in the Shibuya neighborhood of Tokyo .
Manish Prabhune/FlickrThis statue commemorates the meeting of Hachikō and his master.
The pair followed the same routine every 24-hour interval : In the dayspring Ueno would walk to the Shibuya Station with Hachikō and take the train to work . After finishing the day ’s classes , he would take the train back and refund to the station at 3 p.m. on the dot , where Hachikō would be waiting to accompany him on the walk family .
Wikimedia CommonsShibuya Station in the 1920s , where Hachikō would meet his master .
The yoke keep up this docket sacredly until one daylight in May 1925 when Professor Ueno suffered a fateful Einstein haemorrhage while instruct .
Wikimedia CommonsShibuya Station in the 1920s, where Hachikō would meet his master.
That same day , Hachikō showed up at 3 p.m. as common , but his darling owner never got off the train .
Despite this disruption in his routine , Hachikō returned the next day at the same metre , hoping that Ueno would be there to meet him . Of course , the professor failed to return home once again , but his loyal Akita never gave up hope . This is where Hachikō ’s story of loyalty begins .
How The Story Of Hachikō Became A National Sensation
Wikimedia CommonsHachikō was only one of 30 purebred Akitas on phonograph recording at the time .
Hachikō was reportedly fall in away after his master ’s death , but he regularly course off to Shibuya Station at 3 p.m. hoping to meet the prof . Soon , the lone firedog began to draw the care of other commuters .
At first , the place proletarian were not all that friendly to Hachikō , but his faithfulness won them over . before long , station employees began to contribute treats for the devoted canine and sometimes sat beside him to keep him company .
Wikimedia CommonsHachikō was only one of 30 purebred Akitas on record at the time.
The days turned into weeks , then months , then years , and still Hachikō render to the station each sidereal day to waitress . His front had a great impact on the local community of Shibuya and he became something of an icon .
In fact , one of Professor Ueno ’s former scholar , Hirokichi Saito , who also happened to be an expert on the Akita strain , got winding of Hachikō ’s story .
He settle to take the train to Shibuya to see for himself if his prof ’s ducky would still be waiting .
AlamyVisitors came from far and wide to meet Hachikō, a symbol of loyalty.
When he arrived , he saw Hachikō there , as common . He follow the dog from the station to the home of Ueno ’s former gardener , Kuzaburo Kobayashi . There , Kobayashi fill him in on the story of Hachikō .
AlamyVisitors came from far and wide to match Hachikō , a symbol of loyalty .
Shortly after this calamitous meeting with the nurseryman , Saito published a census on Akita dog in Japan . He found that there were only 30 document purebred Akitas — one being Hachikō .
AlamySince his death, a number of statues have been erected in Hachikō’s honor.
The former educatee was so intrigued by the cad ’s report that he published several articles detail his trueness .
In 1932 , one of his articles was published in the national dailyAsahi Shimbun , and Hachikō ’s tale propagate throughout Japan . The dog speedily found nationwide fame .
People from all over the country came to visit Hachikō , who had become a symbol of commitment and something of a good - luck appeal .
Wikimedia CommonsHidesaburo Ueno’s partner Yaeko Ueno and the station staff sit in mourning with the deceased Hachiko in Tokyo on 2 January 2025.
The close pet never let former age or arthritis cut off his routine . For the next nine years and nine month , Hachikō still returned to the post every day to wait .
Sometimes he was accompanied by the great unwashed who were enamor by Hachikō ’s story and had traveled great distances just to sit with him .
The Legacy Of The World’s Most Loyal Dog
AlamySince his death , a number of statues have been erected in Hachikō ’s honor .
Hachikō ’s history finally add up to an conclusion on March 8 , 1935 , when he was found dead in the streets of Shibuya at the age of 11 .
scientist , who were n’t able to determine his cause of decease until 2011 , found that the dog Hachikō likelydiedof a filaria infection and Crab . He even had four yakitori skewers in his stomach , but researchers concluded that the skewers were not the cause of Hachikō ’s death .
Wikimedia CommonsThis stuffed replica of Hachikō is currently on display at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.
Hachikō ’s passing made national headline . He was cremated and his ashes were invest next to Professor Ueno ’s tomb in Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo . The original and his loyal dog had finally reunite .
His pelt , however , was save , stuffed , and mounted . It ’s now housed in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno , Tokyo .
The frankfurter had become such an important symbol in Japan that donation were made to put up a bronze statue of him in the accurate spot he had dependably waited for his master copy . But soon after this statue go up , the res publica became go through by World War II . Consequently , Hachikō ’s statue was melted down to apply for ammo .
Wikimedia CommonsThe stuffed Hachikō on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science.
But in 1948 , the beloved pet was immortalized in a new statue rear in Shibuya Station , where it remains to this sidereal day .
As zillion of passengers eliminate through this station daily , Hachikō brook proud .
Wikimedia CommonsHidesaburo Ueno ’s partner Yaeko Ueno and the place stave sit in mourn with the at peace Hachiko in Tokyo on March 8 , 1935 .
The station entrance near where the statue is located is even devote to the dear canine . It ’s called Hachikō - guchi , merely meaning the Hachikō entrance and exit .
A similar statue , erected in 2004 , can be found in Odate , Hachikō ’s original hometown , where it suffer in front of the Akita Dog Museum . And in 2015 , the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo erected yet another brass section statue of the firedog in 2015 , which was unveil on the 80th anniversary of Hachikō ’s death .
In 2016 , Hachikō ’s story took yet another turn when his later master ’s partner was lay to rest alongside him . When Yaeko Sakano , Ueno ’s unmarried partner , go in 1961 , she explicitly asked to be swallow alongside the professor . Her request was pass up and she was bury in a temple far from Ueno ’s tomb .
Wikimedia CommonsThis stuffed replica of Hachikō is currently on display at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno , Tokyo .
But in 2013 , University of Tokyo professor Sho Shiozawa , found a record of Sakano ’s request and aburiedher ashes beside both Ueno and Hachikō .
Her name was also cipher on the side of his tombstone .
Hachikō’s Story In Pop Culture
Hachikō ’s taradiddle first made it to film in the 1987 Nipponese blockbuster titledHachiko Monogatari , directed by Seijirō Kōyama .
It became even more well - known when the tale of a maestro and his loyal andiron dish as the plot of ground toHachi : A Dog ’s Tale , an American pic star Richard Gere and direct by Lasse Hallström .
This edition is loosely base on the story of Hachikō , though localise in Rhode Island and centered on the human relationship between Professor Parker Wilson ( Gere ) and a lost pup that had been freighted from Japan to the United States .
The professor ’s married woman Cate ( Joan Allen ) is initially opposed to continue the hotdog and when he dies , Cate sells their house and ship the dog to their daughter . Yet the frump always manage to observe his path back to the caravan station where he used to go to greet his former possessor .
Wikimedia CommonsThe stuffed Hachikō on showing at the National Museum of Nature and Science .
Despite the different setting and culture of the 2009 moving-picture show , the primal themes of allegiance persist at the forefront .
Hachikō the bounder might have stand for the quintessential value of Japan , but his story and fidelity persist in to vibrate with mankind around the mankind .
After acquire about the incredible commitment of Hachikō the dog , meet“Stuckie , ” the mummify dog who has been cleave in a tree for over 50 years . Then , read about the dead on target tarradiddle of thecanine paladin Balto .
