Hachiko
During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno didn't return on the usual train one evening.
He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.
Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After time, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house.
And each day he didn't see his friend among the commuters at the station.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day.
They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
This continued for 10 years, with Hachikō appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station. Publication
That same year, another of Ueno's former students (who had become something of an expert on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home where he learned the history of Hachikō's life.
Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo's largest newspaper, threw the dog into the national spotlight.
His faithfulness to his master's memory impressed the people of Japan as a spirit of family loyalty all should strive to achieve. Teachers and parents used Hachikō's vigil as an example for children to follow.
A well-known Japanese artist rendered a sculpture of the dog, and throughout the country a new awareness of the Akita breed grew.
Death
Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, of filariasis (heartworm). His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.
Remembrance
Bronze statues
The statue of Hachikō in Shibuya.
In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling.
The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist who had since died, to make a second statue.
The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is an extremely popular meeting spot. The station entrance near this statue is named "Hachikō-guchi", meaning "The Hachikō Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.
The Japan Times played a practical joke on readers by reporting that the bronze statue was stolen a little before 2AM on April 1, 2007, by "suspected metal thieves".
The false story told a very detailed account of an elaborate theft by men wearing khaki workers' uniforms who secured the area with orange safety cones and obscured the theft with blue vinyl tarps. The "crime" was allegedly recorded on security cameras.
A similar statue stands in Hachikō's hometown, in front of Odate Station.
Hundreds of dog lovers often turn out to honor his memory and loyalty.
Hachikō in the media
Hachikō exhibited at the "National Museum of Nature and Science" in Ueno.
1987 film
Hachikō was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachikō Monogatari (ハチ公物語, Hachikō Monogatari?), which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spiritual reunion with his master, the Professor. The movie is being filmed in Rhode Island, and will also feature actresses Joan Allen and Sarah Roemer.
Books
Hachikō is also the subject of a 2004 children's book named Hachikō: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, written by Pamela S.
A huge advertising campaign ensued and on Saturday, May 28, 1994, 59 years after his death, millions of radio listeners tuned in to hear Hachikō bark. This event was testimony to Hachikō's continuing popularity.
Other media
In the videogame Persona 3, a dog named Koromaru is a well known dog in the city who waits by the shrine where his master died. Koromaru bears a great resemblance to Hachiko but the only difference between them are the red eyes and the two gray moles above them.
In a few episodes of One Piece (during their first travels) a dog named Chou Chou stands in front and guards an old pet shop his master used to own until he died at the hospital.
Before he left for the hospital he told Chou Chou to watch the shop while he was gone until he came back. Luffy (the shows hero) saves a box of pet food for the dog.
The Ninetales leaves its master's former home at the end.
The animated television show Futurama features an episode titled Jurassic Bark in which the main character, Philip J. Fry, having been transported a thousand years into the future, discovers the fossilized remains of his dog from the year 1999.
In spite of the technology developed by the year 3000, Fry ends up choosing not to bring the dog back to life based on the fact that he loved his memories of his dog and that the dog probably forgot about him.