Hachikō, the Faithful Dog
| Category: | Japanese Myths and Legends |
|---|---|
| Props: | A photo of the Hachikō statue at Shibuya Station (optional) |
| Notes: | A true story. Hachikō (1923-1935) was an Akita who met his owner at Shibuya Station in Tokyo every day, and kept coming for almost ten years after his owner died. Good for a talk about loyalty, or for a quiet closing story. |
About a hundred years ago in Tokyo, Japan, there lived a university professor named Hidesaburō Ueno. Professor Ueno taught farmers how to grow better crops, and he loved dogs. In 1924, he got a new puppy, a fluffy, cream-colored Akita, and named him Hachi. People added "kō" to his name, which is something like saying "Mister" or "good old," so everybody called him Hachikō.
Every morning, Professor Ueno walked from his house to Shibuya Station to catch the train to work. And every morning, Hachikō walked with him, tail wagging, right to the station entrance. Then Hachikō trotted home.
And every afternoon, at exactly the time the professor's train came in, Hachikō trotted back to the station and sat by the entrance, watching the doors. When the professor stepped out, Hachikō would jump up, and spin around, and the two of them would walk home together. Every single day.
Then one day in May of 1925, Professor Ueno went to work, and while he was teaching, he collapsed. His heart had stopped. He died that afternoon, and he never came home.
That afternoon, Hachikō went to the station, and he sat by the entrance and watched the doors. The train came in. People poured out. But the professor wasn't there. Hachikō waited until it was dark. Then he went home.
The next afternoon, Hachikō went back to the station, and sat, and waited.
And the next day. And the next.
The professor's family moved away, and Hachikō went to live with new people. But every afternoon, he still found his way back to Shibuya Station, and sat by the entrance at exactly the time the train came in, and watched the doors.
At first, some of the station workers chased him away. Some boys teased him. But as the months went by, and then the years, people began to notice. There was the dog again. Still waiting. A shopkeeper gave him snacks. A station worker made him a spot to sit out of the rain. In 1932, a newspaper wrote a story about him, and soon all of Japan knew about Hachikō, the faithful dog of Shibuya Station. People came from all over the country just to sit beside him for a while.
In 1934, the people of Tokyo put up a bronze statue of Hachikō right outside the station, at the very spot where he waited. And Hachikō himself came to see it unveiled. He was getting old by then, and one of his ears drooped.
Hachikō kept coming to the station every day for nine years and nine months. In March of 1935, he died, still in the streets near Shibuya, still waiting for his friend.
Today, Shibuya Station is one of the busiest places in the world. Thousands of people cross the street outside every few minutes. And right in the middle of all that hurry, there's still a statue of a dog, sitting very still, looking at the doors. When people in Tokyo want to meet a friend there, they say, 'Meet me at Hachikō.'
And in 2015, at the university where Professor Ueno once taught, they put up one more statue. It shows Hachikō jumping up, tail wagging, with his front paws reaching for the professor, who is bending down to greet him. Finally, after all those years, the two of them are together again.
Storyteller tips: tell it plainly; the true facts are moving enough. Afterward, ask: what does loyalty look like for a person? Who in your life has kept showing up for you?