Hachiko or Hachi is a friend that everyone who travels to Tokyo should visit. Today he stands in the heart of Tokyo as a symbol of loyalty that transcends time and cultures, where for 10 years he waited for his friend Hidesaburo Ueno to return.
The story of Hachiko begins on a farm on November 10, 1923.Hachi is a white Japanese Akita dog known for his loyalty and stubbornness.He lived on this farm until 1924 when he was adopted by Hidesaburo Euno, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University.Considering that Euno was a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, I think he probably met Hachi on this farm and decided to adopt him. Euno brought Hachi to Tokyo to Shibuya and they started living together.
Hachiko began to accompany Euno to work at the same time every day, learning the station and the departure times of the professor who commuted to Shibuya Station every day. He went to the station with the professor every morning and waited to meet the professor at the return time in the evening. On May 21, 1925, Euno died of a cerebral hemorrhage while lecturing at the university and never returned home again, but Hachiko continued to go to the same station at the same time every day for 10 years after the professor’s death, waiting for the professor to return.
The officials and shopkeepers who had seen Hachi with the Professor recognized Hachiko immediately and adopted him. In time, this situation caught the attention of a journalist who used the same station and Hachi’s story was published in The Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Of course, people who were very impressed by this situation not only brought Hachiko food every day and took care of him, but Hachi suddenly became a national celebrity.
As people learned about Hachiko’s dedication and loyalty, parents began to tell their children, teachers began to tell their students, and suddenly he became a national symbol of loyalty and hope in Japan.
Hachi continued to wait for his friend with hope until the moment he died on March 8, 1935 at the station where he was waiting for the Professor. After his death, his ashes were buried next to his friend in Aoyama Cemetery. Today, his memory welcomes us at the Hachiko Exit Gate at Shibuya Station. Apart from that, there are statues erected in memory of Hachiko on the campus where the Professor worked and in Hachi’s hometown Odate.
The original sculpture made by the artist Teru Ando was unfortunately melted down during the Second World War to be used to make weapons, but immediately after the war Teru Ando’s artist son Takeshi Ando recreated Hachi’s sculpture. These days it is known as Hachiko Square, a meeting point for people and I am sure that every person who comes here feels the warmth of the friendship between Hachiko and the Professor.
Come and sit next to Hachiko, remember our canine friend who is loyal to his friend without any expectation of benefit, remember the thousands of living beings who have no guilt and are waiting to die in pain just for the enjoyment of humans, look at your similarity, not your difference in the mirror, they have a beating heart, we have a beating heart, the rest doesn’t matter.
