Hachikō
Hachikō was an Akita dog remembered for his strong dedication to his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for almost ten years following Ueno's death in 1925.
Hachikō was born in mid-November 1923, on a farm near Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, Japan. In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University, brought him to live in Shibuya, Tokyo, as his pet. Hachikō met Ueno at Shibuya Station every day after his commute home. This continued until May 21, 1925, when Ueno died of a cerebral aneurysm infarction while at work. From then until his death on March 8, 1935, Hachikō returned to Shibuya Station almost every day to await Ueno's return.
After Ueno's death, Hachikō was treated very poorly by most people at Shibuya Station. This did not deter him. After he became nationally known, his story of fidelity and loyalty grew and he came to be treated better. He also had significant health problems his entire life. After he became known internationally, his story led to Helen Keller bringing the first Akita to America. Since his death, he continues to be remembered worldwide in popular culture with statues, movies and books. Over time, Hachikō's story was widely circulated in Japanese media and came to be interpreted as a cultural symbol of loyalty and devotion, a framing that has shaped his legacy in Japan and abroad.
Life
Birth and naming
There has been much confusion and misinformation about the birth and naming of Hachikō. Hachikō, a creamy-white Akita, was born in mid-November 1923, at a farm located in Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, Japan. He was one of four purebred Akita puppies, all male, through his father and mother . The suffix has no particular meaning but is used for purebred animals, art, airplanes, and trains. Claims that Hachikō was not a purebred Akita have been discredited. Much of the confusion surrounding his birth stems from a fake birth certificate issued in 1934. This fake certificate lists his date of birth as November 20, as well as wrong parents. However, his birthday is often celebrated as November 10. Akita puppies were given to their new owners prior to them turning two months old. Since Hachikō was shipped from Ōdate on January 14, 1924, it is likely he was born after November 14, 1923. Hachikō's true provenance was not proven until May 1975.Various theories have been espoused for the origin of Hachikō's name. Some sources say the name Hachi was chosen because Professor Hidesaburō Ueno noticed Hachikō's forepaws resembled the shape of the kanji for eight when he stood up. Others say it was because Hachikō was the eighth puppy in a litter of eight puppies. According to Professor Mayumi Itoh, the real reason the puppy was named Hachi has not been conclusively proven. Additional theories Itoh mentions are that at the time it was a popular name for dogs and that the name means 'good fortune'. Itoh offers this explanation as being more plausible:
Hachikō is also known in Japanese as, with the suffix in the meaning of 'noble person, prince, duke, lord'; in this context, it was an affectionate addition to his name Hachi. The suffix seems to have become common after a 1932 article on Hachikō appeared in The Asahi Shimbun.
Life with Ueno
Ueno was an agriculture professor at the Tokyo Imperial University and the pioneer of agricultural engineering in Japan. Contrary to what is often reported, Ueno did not pay ¥30 for Hachikō. He was a gift from Chiyomatsu Mase, a former student of his. Mase was head of the Arable Land Cultivation Section in Akita Prefecture. Mase arranged for Reizō Kurita, one of his employees, to find an Akita puppy for Ueno. Kurita moved to Akita Prefecture into the house right beside Hachikō's owners, Saitō Giichi and his wife Mura. Kurita became well acquainted with Mura and asked for a puppy for Ueno. Kurita and two companions walked the from the Saitō farm to the train station in a blizard. Hachikō was sent in a straw bag with cookies, which he did not eat, on a train journey to live with Ueno in Shibuya, Tokyo. The puppy left Ōdate on January 14, 1924, and arrived in Tokyo on January 15, 1924, at Ueno Station, not Shibuya Station as is often reported due a fake postcard the Shibuya stationmaster made. The arrival at Ueno Station was not firmly proven until November 1979. These details of how Hachikō came to be Ueno's pet were not known until May 1975 when Yūkichi Muraoka, executive director of the Society for the Preservation of Akita-inu, found two letters from Kurita to Saiji Giichi, Saitō Giichi's son. Saitō Giichi and Mura are also the maternal grandparents of Yasushi Akashi, a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General, the only Japanese person to hold such a position.Upon arrival in Tokyo, Hachikō was at first thought to be dead, due to an exhausting bumpy train ride through mountains in the winter, but Ueno and his common law wife, Yaeko Sakano, were able to bring him back to health after six months. The exhausting train journey may have been the cause of Hachikō's chronic illnesses. Ueno doted on the dog, allowing Hachikō to sleep indoors and under his Western-style bed, raising him with affectionate care. Hachikō had digestive problems, causing diarrhea, for his whole life, so Ueno and Yaeko followed a strict dietary regimen for him. Ueno commuted daily to work and Hachikō left the house to greet him at the end of the day at Shibuya Station. Locals and station staff soon became familiar with the pair and observed the dog's daily routine. The pair continued the daily routine until May 21, 1925, when Ueno did not return. Ueno had died of a cerebral aneurysm infarction while in the office of a colleague, Hiroaki Yoshikawa, not while giving a lecture nor in a faculty meeting, though he had been at a faculty meeting that morning.
Multiple moves
That evening, Hachikō went to Shibuya Station as usual, but Ueno never returned. Hachikō, not understanding that his owner had died, showed up as usual in the evening and waited for Ueno's arrival. When Ueno failed to come home, Hachikō acted distressed and sniffed and paced around Ueno's empty house. On May 21, the day Ueno died, Yaeko wrapped Ueno's blood-stained shirt inside a futon and placed it in outdoor storage. The next day, May 22, Hachikō went missing. A servant found him in the outdoor storage three days later, on May 24. Hachikō had not eaten anything. Ueno's wake was held at his home on May 25 and Hachikō stayed under Ueno's coffin. The next day, May 26, Hachikō went back to Shibuya Station to wait for Ueno. Despite having been with Ueno only about 15 months, Hachikō waited for Ueno, "commuting" almost daily for the next nine and half years, and eventually attracted the attention of others. Many people who visited the Shibuya train station saw Hachikō daily. In the weeks that followed, Yaeko and colleagues made arrangements for the dog's care. Hachikō was given to new caretakers numerous times, and sent to the countryside briefly, but repeatedly escaped or wandered back to the Shibuya area. There is little verified information about Hachikō between 1925 and 1928 and much of that is contradictory.Ueno's students were so loyal to him that they had built a vacation home for him and Yaeko. He had also adopted a daughter, Tsuruko. Tsuruko had married Yasushi Sakano and they had at least one child, a girl named Hisako, born in February 1924, nickname Chako-chan. Ueno's passing was financially devastating for Yaeko and Tsuruko. Ueno's students sold the vacation house since Yaeko could not inherit it since they were never legally married, and used the proceeds to build a house in Tsurumaki in Setagaya ward in Shibuya and support the surviving family. These events took about two years and resulting upheaval was also hard on Hachikō, which is why there is so little verified information on him during this time.
Ueno and Yaeko had two other dogs, an English Pointer named John and a black mix named Esu. Yaeko had to move out of their home in early July 1925, two months after Ueno's death. She could only take one dog to this rental home, Esu; apparently because she could not ask relatives to take care of him because he was aggressive. John and Hachikō went to a relative, Watanabe, who ran a kimono shop in Tokyo, where they were kept tied up all day, except for one walk a day. This stay only lasted a couple weeks and Hachikō went to Sada, Yaeko's elder sister, and her husband, Nenokichi Takahashi, in mid-July. Hachikō never saw John again. Takahashi ran a business making barbershop chairs. They had a dog simply named "S", who got along well with Hachikō. This family lived in the Asakusa ward of Tokyo. While the Takahashi's took good medical and dietary care of Hachikō, they kept him tied up in the backyard all day to a barber chair and his diarrhea problems continued. According to The Tale of Loyal Dog Hachi-kō, by Kazutoshi Kishi, one day Hachikō broke free of his nailed-down leash and got involved in a fight with others. Several spectators hit Hachikō with tools and wanted to kill him, but Kōichirō – son of the Takahashis – stopped them. According to Kishi, Hachikō stayed with the Takahashis until the summer or early fall of 1927. Hachikō then went to live with Yaeko in the house Ueno's student built for her in Setagaya. Here, he was allowed to roam free again, but he trampled farm fields and did not get along well with Esu. Much of Kishi's story is considered fiction and non-credible.
In the Anthology of Hachi-kō Literature, Masaharu Hayashi relates the story of Tomokichi Kobayashi, the younger brother of Ueno's gardener, Kikusaburō Kobayashi, known as "Kiku-san". Tomokichi lived in Kikusaburō's house during this time. Tomokichi states Hachikō only lived in Asakusa one month, but confirms he was tied to barber chair in the Takahashis' backyard. As it was clear Hachikō was unhappy, Yaeko asked Kikusaburō to take care of him. When Tomokichi went to pick up Hachikō from the Takahashis in Asakusa, Hachikō was elated and according to Tomokichi, Hachikō knew he was going home to Shibuya. By this time, Hachikō was so large no one could force him to move. Halfway back to Shibuya, Hachikō was exhausted and famished so he sat down and would not move. Tomokichi found a restaurant and fed Hachikō, so they continued the journey to Shibuya. There is also a report by a local historian, Kichiji Watanabe, of Hachikō being back in Shibuya near the Kobayashi residence April 1926, well before Yaeko's new home in Setagaya was completed. The Kobayashi home was near the Shibuya Station. Tomokichi also denies a story that Hachikō broke free from the home in Asakusa and ran back to Ueno's former residence. In addition to being Ueno's gardener, Kikusaburō was also his handyman and did chores and errands for him. Ueno was away convalescing when Hachikō arrived in Tokyo. He had asked his adopted daughter, Tsuruko, to pick up Hachikō, but Kikusaburō is the person who picked Hachikō up at Ueno Station on January 15, 1924. He knew Hachikō from his gardening work, had played with him, and his home was a mere 20-minute walk from Shibuya Station. In the summer of 1925, Yaeko made the hard decision to gift Hachikō to Kikusaburō as she knew he would be happy there. It is possible, but unproven, that Hachikō lived with Yaeko one or more times during these moves. Tomokichi's report is considered credible.