A friend of mine just got an Akita puppy from one of his friends giving them away. But after only one day, he’s thinking of finding the puppy another owner because he doesn’t know if he has the time or commitment.
His situation reminded me of this story of Japan’s most faithful dog and his statue, and yes, I forwarded him the story.
Loyalty, faithfulness and unconditional love are qualities that have earned dogs the title of “man’s best friend”. One particular Akita dog took these qualities to such an extreme, he has earned a place in the hearts of all Japanese people, and has kept that place for over sixty years!
Nestled amid hoards of harried commuters, a variety of shops and department stores, and a giant television screen that covers half a skyscraper, a life sized bronze statue of a dog can be found at Tokyo’s busy Shibuya Train Station. Despite the diminutive size of the statue in comparison to the massive neon flash of the city, it isn’t difficult to find. Millions of Tokyoites have been meeting at the landmark since 1934 and continue to do so today.
Chu-ken Hachiko (lit. the faithful dog Hachiko) was born in Akita in 1923 and was first brought to Tokyo in 1924. He and his owner, Mr. Eisaburo Uyeno, were inseparable friends right from the start. Each day “Hachi” would accompany Eisaburo, a professor at the Imperial University, to the train station when he left for work. Upon returning, the professor would find the dog patiently waiting, tail wagging. This happy routine continued until one fateful day in 1925, when the professor was taken ill on the job and unfortunately died before he could return home.
Despite the fact that Hachiko was less than two years old at the time, the bond between dog and owner was strong. Hachiko continued to wait each day at Shibuya station for a friend who was never coming back. At times, he wouldn’t return home for days at a stretch.
The Akita became a familiar sight to commuters as he kept his vigil for over ten years. On March 8, 1935, Hachiko finally went to meet his master. He died on the very same spot he last saw his friend alive.
Full Article from FabulousTravel.com
And I learned form Wikipedia that a movie about the dog with Richard Gere will be coming to theaters in August of this year.
If Richard Gere is playing the professor and he dies before little Hachiko is even two while the dog lives to twelve, then Gere's role must be a cameo…unless he plays the role of Hachiko?
Hi this is Cheri Sicard, the author of the article above about Hachiko. Thank you for providing the link to FabulousTravel.com, but in the future please ask before you take and republish other people's work. Because of the link, you can leave the story, but please realize another writer might not be so nice. Words carry copyrights, have value, and belong to the their authors and it's just wrong (not to mention illegal) to republish them without permission.
Cheri Sicard
Also re Hachiko, Did not know about the Gere movie, there are 2 or 3 Japanese movies about him already.
Cheri,
I've often wondered, and never had the chance to ask, what does an author consider an acceptable way to link to their work? That does look like a sizable chunk of the original article, would a smaller teaser snippit fall more easily into the category of fair use? Or, if the post above was more of an article in its own right that quoted your article for support? I think this is an interesting subject – if I were an author I suppose the main issue would be the diversion of web traffic.
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Why is it that your blog looks a lot different in google chrome than it does in internet explorer? I have just installed google chrome and all the webpages like youtube and google look the same but your site looks a little different. It looks like the font is a bit smaller and its different type of font. I don't know for which web browser you have coded your site but I think it looks a bit nicer in internet explorer.
is this updated often?
hachiko so touching I like it he's waiting the master even her master never back again