Have you ever heard of the famous dog Hachiko? Surely you have, as he has been very popular since the 1920s. He actually became so famous that his story has been adapted unto the screen several times already.
For the ones who don’t know, let me tell you the story of this unbelievable faithful dog…
Once upon a time, in 1924, a Japanese professor in agriculture science at Tokyo University named Ueno Eizaburo adopted a small Akita puppy. He called him Hachiko or Hachi and soon the two of them became best friends.
As Hachiko grew older, he started to memorise the times when his best friend Eizaburo went to work and when his train from work returned at Shibuya station in Tokyo. So he began to bring him to the train station and waited for him to return in the evening every single day.
It’s a very sad story that gained a lot of attention, inspiring many people to visit Hachiko and give him treats. They called him “Chuken-Hachiko” which means faithful dog.
On the left: Shibuya station in the 1920s, on the right: Shibuya station today
But one fateful day, when Hachiko was only two years old, he was sitting as usual at the exit of Shibuya station but his best friend didn’t come home. Eizaburo had died unexpectedly by a cerebral haemorrhage at work.
Hachiko was adopted by a member of the Ueno family but he still didn’t give up hope for his buddy to return. Throughout the rest of his ten-year-old life and until his death in 1935, he waited at the exit of Shibuya station every single day grieving for his best friend, who would never return to him…
Hachiko died alone in the streets near Shibuya station. Many people were grieving for him as he was loved by the citizens of Shibuya.
In honour of him several memorials were built such as the one in front of Shibuya Station Exit and the one next to Eizaburos tomb at Aoyama Graveyard in Tokyo.
So in the end the two inseparable friends were finally reunited and can rest in peace forever.
+ In Memory of Ueno Eizaburo and Hachiko, best friends forever … +
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