The definitive collection of postcards from Tokyo............... Part 1.........June 2015

[firth1974 2,659]

There is a very interesting story behind this dog..........................................

[firth1974 2,659]

[firth1974 2,659]

[nkped 1,208]

The dog?

[tangent 42]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[mrbill2 6]

Brilliant .

 

Great photo's

MRBILL2

[Gary 4,119]

OK to visit but I wouldn't be able to stand so many people packed so close together. I couldn't wait to get out of Bangkok after about six years.

 

Thanks for the photos.

[Gary 4,119]

The dog?

 

The dog;

 

The true story of Hachiko

Let’s roll back 86 years. Hachiko ((ハチ公), white male dog of Akita breed, was born in 1923 on a farm near the city of Odate in Akita prefecture on the north of Honshu. Nearly a year later he was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo

 

Every morning when Ueno went to work, Hachiko (also called Hachi) saw him off at the front door and waited for him in late afternoon on the same spot at the nearby Shibuya Station. This has become their daily routine. The tragedy occured in May of 1925 when Hachiko was eighteen months old. That day the professor didn’t arrive by train as usual. At the university he suffered a stroke. He died and never came back to the station where his friend was waiting for him.

 

After Ueno’s death, Hachiko was given away to new owners but he escaped every time, returning to his old home where he used to live with his master. When Hachiko eventually realized that the professor didn’t live there anymore, he went back to the station. After that day, every time exactly at 4 o’clock when the train arrived, Hachiko came to wait in hopes of seeing his master.

 

This continued day after day, month after month, for the next 10 years. Many people who passed through the station every day, even brought food for Hachiko as he waited. He drew attention of one of former Ueno’s students who followed the dog home and learned about his story from the new owners. The student was fascinated with the story and afterwards visited Hachiko many times as he began to write articles about him and the Akita breed.