This is the story of Hachiko, the most loyal dog in the world. The saying: ” A dog is a man’s best friend.” is proven and cannot be denied. This friendly canine will beat all the other loyal dog stories by far! It even inspired one of the most successful episodes of Futurama!
If you have ever been to Tokyo, the odds are that you will have heard about this one in a million dog. Hachiko is a national hero to the Japanese! So famous in fact that there are many movies made about him!
His story begins with professor Eizaburo Ueno from Tokyo University in Japan. He had long wanted a rare purebred Japanese Akita dog. Even though his immense desire for a dog, he was very picky and searched for the perfect pup for a long time. Eventually, he was persuaded to do something he never imagined doing…
His pupils at the university managed to convince him to adopt Hackiko from the Odate city in the Akita prefecture of Japan. Hachiko and his owner would soon become very close friends, and the two would never leave each other’s side. They were always together, except for his owner having to work. This was when an amazing and moving ritual began…
As his best friend grew up, he started sending he owner off to work by walking with him to the Shibuya Trainstation. A little while later he also began picking his owner up from the station in central Tokyo and walked his pal home. However, one day, his soulmate did not show up…
Turns out only two years after Hachiko was born his best friend had a cerebral hemorrhage at his work. He unexpectedly died right on the spot without his friend being there to witness this horrific event. Because of this, and the inability of his loved ones to communicate the death of his owner, the dog was never notified of his loss…
As a result, this loyal canine stayed put and kept waiting on his best friend at the train station. Every morning and every afternoon, Hachiko would go and wait for his former owner so they could walk home together. Sadly Eizaburo would never return and ” Chucken-Hachiko,” which means “Hachiko – the faithful dog” would spend the next ten years waiting…
