Yesterday, as i was surfing through the channels to find something nice to watch, i came upon an interesting movie.. It was a movie about a dog and his master.. I have seen many pet oriented shows before like Homeward Bound and Marley and Me, but as the story progress, i realized it was something more deeper.. I'm a stoic guy who rarely shows his emotions.. I also rarely cry, but at the last 15 minutes of the movie, i just found myself, teary-eyed and sobbing while hugging my pet Chow Chow.. The story was just too intense for me.. It was painful yet beautiful at the same time.. I know all of us remember how painful it was to lose a beloved pet just like what happened in Marley and Me, but have you ever wondered what happens when it was reversed? what would happen if it was the master who died before his dog? The story of Hachiko beautifully showed us, the true depth of the meaning of undying love and loyalty.. What makes this story more intense is that, this story happened in real life..
In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life Hachikō greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.
Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for the return of his owner.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait. This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.
That same year, one of Ueno's students (who had become an amateur expert on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home (the home of the former gardener of Professor Ueno — Kikuzaboro Kobayashi where he learned the history of Hachikō's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachikō from Shibuya Station.
He returned frequently to visit the dog and over the years published several articles about Hachikō's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachikō became a national sensation. His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachikō's vigil as an example for children to follow. A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew. Eventually, Hachiko's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.
Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, and was found on a street in Shibuya. He waited on the very same stop for his long dead master for 9 years, everyday hoping that his master who come, and apparently, after all the years of waiting, he did come, and they went home together happily in eternal life.
Now, on the very same spot where Hachiko used to wait for his master lies a bronze statue of the faithful dog. This statue now exist in front of the Shibuya Station. Also, his stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.
This real life story of Hachiko clearly demonstrated undying, unconditional love for another since both the physical absence of his owner Professor Ueno and the passing of time would not diminish Hachiko's love and unflinching loyalty for his original master Ueno. Hachiko, the Akita dog, has set the yardstick of loyalty under which all loyalty among us human beings are to be measured. Loyalty that is truly monumental. Loyalty that is to be surpassed only by God himself.
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