Hachikō (ハチ公; mid-November 1923 – March 8, 1935) 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.
According to some contemporary accounts, Hachikō faced neglect and occasional mistreatment at Shibuya Station after Ueno's death, but was undeterred from visiting. Once his story became nationally known, his remarkable display of loyalty was widely reported in Japanese media, and public interest grew significantly. After he became known internationally, his story led Helen Keller to bring the first Akita to America. Since his death, he continues to be remembered worldwide in popular culture with statues, movies, and books of him.
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 Ōshinai-yama-gō ('Ōshinai mountain') and mother Goma-gō ('Sesame'). The suffix -gō is used in Japanese honorific speech as a sign of respect 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, which incorrectly lists his birthdate as November 20 and misidentifies his 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 (Japanese: 八, 'eight') 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 Hachi was a popular name for dogs at the time, and that it means 'good fortune'. Itoh offers this explanation as being more plausible:
The key information came from the four Akita puppies that Ueno had raised previously. They were named Tarō, Tarō II (or Jirō, depending on the source), Gorō, and Roku (or Rokurō). Tarō was the most common name for the first-born boy in Japan at that time. In turn, Jirō refers to the second-born boy. Gorō means the fifth-born boy. Roku means six, and Rokurō the sixth-born boy. Ueno most likely named the last Akita-inu Roku, because Rokurō sounds less commonly used in comparison. Following this sequence in numbers, Ueno should have named the next Akita puppy Shichi (seven) or Shichirō (the seventh-born boy). However, people native to Tokyo spoke the traditional Tokyo dialect, as some Londoners in England spoke with a Cockney accent. Many Tokyoites could not pronounce the word "shichi" articulately, and pronounced it "hichi," instead. Therefore, Ueno skipped seven, and named the puppy Hachi (eight). He omitted "rō" from Hachirō (as he had done for Rokurō), because Hachirō also sounds somewhat tongue tied. Hence, the naming of Hachi came about. This would make sense. This interpretation of the naming of Hachi has not been widely documented in existing literature on Hachi.
Hachikō is also known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公, 'faithful dog Hachikō' or 'loyal dog Hachikō'), with the suffix -kō (公) in the meaning of 'noble person, prince, duke, lord'; in this context, it was an affectionate addition to his name Hachi. The -kō suffix seems to have become common after a 1932 article on Hachikō appeared in The Asahi Shimbun.
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 12.5 miles (20 km) from the Saitō farm to the train station in a blizzard. 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 to 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.
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 return. 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.