As expressed by a popular saying recognized around the world: The dog is man's best friend. This phrase can become a verifiable fact when knowing the history of Hachiko, the dog that became a world reference through a close relationship based on love and loyalty with his master, an agronomist. This story impacted so much that it was not only taken to the cinema to recreate the life of this noble animal, but made hashiko deserving of one of the most recognized statues located in Japan. If you have not had the opportunity to know this genuine history of companionship and empathy, this is the time. Next, we will detail the history of Hachiko, a movie dog.
Who was Hachiko?
Hachiko is the name awarded to a small puppy born in 1924, in Odate, a city belonging to northern Japan. Days after his birth, the dog was given to a professor from the Department of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo, UENO HIDES, who, at that time, crossed the difficult physical loss of his previous pet, a dog.
For two days the dog traveled inside a box from his native home, to the Shibuya station, where Professor Ueno's servants went to pick him up, realizing that he was passed out, so presupposing that Hachiko would not survive. However, the teacher bring him a bowl of milk and immediately the dog reacted. Given the loss he had suffered recently, Professor Uen was not totally convinced of staying with hashiko. However, his daughter convinced him to do it. Decision that was very successful, as a rapid connection between the dog and his master.
Hachiko's name
The name of this genuine and faithful animal was no accident. Comes from the word "Hachi"That, in Japan, means" eight. "Professor Uen chooses to put that name given the physical characteristics of the animal: Hashiko's front legs possessed a slight deviation.
A little of the Akita race
The Akita Inu race, to which Hachiko belonged, was from Japan. This name is because "Inu" is the translation of "dog" in Japanese and Akita, for its relationship with the place of origin, Akita's prefecture. The evolution and physical features of the race allowed him to be considered in Japan a multitasking animal, being used for hunting or dog fights among others. Hachiko has been the reflection of the behavior of the dogs of their race: loyal, protectors and highly affectionate and expressive with their owners and the family to which they belong. A predominant curiosity in this race is that It is considered in Japan as a good luck symbol. In Japanese custom, it is usual to give a tiny statuette of Hachiko as a way of attracting good omens to another person.
Hachiko's life: What makes it so special?
The moving history of Hachiko has gained worldwide recognition for its high capacity for intelligence and loyalty. After Professor Uen decided to adopt him, Hachiko became his best friend. Daily, the dog accompanied his master to the Shibuya station in the morning hours, where he said goodbye so that the latter went to his workday. And then, after the afternoon, Hachiko returned to the station to wait for the professor's arrival.
This day became an event that aroused the curiosity of the passers -by of the station, who regularly coincided in the schedules with Hachiko and his master. However, a year later, exactly in May 1925, during the development of one of his classes at the University of Tokyo, Professor Ueno vanishes, apparently, victim of intracranial hemorrhage, which caused death. The afternoon of that same day, Hachiko was as usual to the station, where he unsuccessfully waited for his master without knowing that he would not return, remaining in the place all night and every consecutive day. To such an extent that, the departure of the Shibuya station became his new "house" for the next nine years of hashiko's life.
Those who knew the Hachiko routine and the teacher at the station felt moved by the loyalty of the dog and began to feed and drink. After 10 years of waiting, Hachiko was found dead at the station a March morning of the year 1935. The previous year, a bronze statue was raised in honor of its loyalty, which can be seen at the Shibuya station. The impact that hashiko generated on society was such that His death was posted in national newspapers, who from that moment on gave him the name of Chüken Hachiko, Japanese expression that means "Fiel Hachiko”Another of the emblems in recognition of the dog and its faithfulness was a statue located in the Aoyama cemetery, next to the tomb of his master, in which Hachiko and the teacher are visualized.
Hachiko: movie dog
The sentimental shock that produced Hachiko's story He reached such a point, that different cinematographic productions were made to tell it. The most outstanding and so far popular is "Hachiko, always by your side", an American filming directed in 2009 by Lasse Hallström and starring Richard Gere.
In this production, Richard Gere is a music teacher whose meeting with hashiko takes place at a railway station, where the latter is wandering. Not very far from real history, Parker (Richard Gere) and Hachiko, establish an indestructible friendship with the passing of time until the teacher dies of a cardiac arrest during one of his classes. The plot takes another course when Hachiko is recovered from the station by the son -in -law of Parker and is taken to live with his wife, although he escaped daily to wait for his master at the station.
