I know we have some Akita moms here at PT, and Akitas are one of my favorite breeds. I very much would love to raise one someday! This is also one my favorite dog stories (true story) and I ran across it again recently. I thought I'd share it here, for those who haven't heard/seen the story before, or if you're just like me and like to reread good stories too.
Here is the amazing tale of loyalty of Hachi-Ko the Akita.
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This is the legend of Hachi-Ko is as told by Joan McDonald Brearley in her wonderful book loaded with pictures: The Book of the Akita.
Hachi-Ko is an Akita dog that became a legend in Japan because he epitomized the loyalty and devotion of all dogs. It seems only fitting that his statue at Shibuya Station in Japan has remained a meeting place for lovers in his native land.
The late Hachi is an Akita dog born October 4, 1922. The little cream-colored puppy was a gift to Dr. Eisaburo Ueno from one of his students at the Tokyo Imperial University. Long ago, each morning Hachi-Ko walked with his owner, Professor Eisaburo to the Shibuya train station. Once there, Hachi-ko (as the professor affectionately called him) remained behind as the professor boarded the train for the commute to Tokyo Imperial University. Each afternoon at 3 P.M. Hachi-ko came back to meet Dr. Ueno at the Shibuya station platform. On May 21, 1925, the doctor boarded the train, as usual, but did not return. He suffered a stroke and died at the University, and that evening Hachi-Ko sat among the priests and mourners.
Hachi-Ko waited long into the night. Friends of the professor came for him, sending him to a new home some miles away. But Hachi-ko would continually run away to return to his former home with the professor. The faithful Hachi-Ko continued to return to the station each morning and each afternoon at 3 P.M to wait for his master hoping his beloved master, to whom he was so devoted, would return. The former gardener of the professor, Kikuzaboro Kobayashi, fed and cared for Hachi-Ko but allowed him to mourn his own way. The Station Director, realizing why the dog returned each day, also gave him shelter from the weather and began to feed him.
All Tokyo came to know the dog and fed and cared for him while he kept his vigil. Hachi-ko became a landmark. His unaltering routine became well known to commuters. His fame spread nationwide. Japanese schoolbooks talk of his great love for his master, serving as an example of loyalty. Many people traveled to Shibuya Station to visit with Hachi-ko, often presenting him with food, gently touching his head for luck.
Hachi-ko continued his daily ritual even when arthritis and age slowed his pace. On the evening of March 7, 1935 they found Hachi-Ko dead at the very spot where he had waited for so long for his owner to return. A day of mourning was declared. He was almost 12 1/2 years of age when he died. Everyone would ask "Where is Hachi-Ko?" for many years to come.
In 1943 a small bronze statue of Hachi-Ko was erected at the place where he waited so patiently for ten years for the return of someone he loved. But shortly after it was put in place, the government confiscated all statues to be melted down for arms during World War II. In 1948 a son of Teru Ando, the sculptor who created the original statue of Hachi-Ko, was commissioned to do another statue which was eventually erected at the same location.
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