Tokyo And A Tale Of Man’s Best Friend

Outside of Tokyo’s busy Shibuya Station is a life size bronze statue of an Akita. Several dozen people stand nearby waiting for someone. Tourists take turns having their photos taken next to it before heading across the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing.

The Hachiko Statue represents the extreme of man’s best friend and loyalty and is Tokyo’s most famous meeting spot.

In the 1920s the faithful canine Hachiko would accompany his owner, a professor, to Shibuya Station every morning. At the end of the workday the professor would return to find the dog waiting for him. This routine continued for a few years until the professor died. But his dog continued to wait every day for 10 years until his own death.

People were so touched that a statue was erected in the dog’s honor in the 1930s. The original statue was melted down during World War II but a few years after the war ended a new one was erected.