Hachiko: A Tail of Loyalty in Tokyo

(CBS)  At a crossroad of busy 24/7 Tokyo, half a million people a day hurry by.

But some pause, spending a moment with a dog who is the stuff of mythology, reports CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen.

"His gaze looks lonesome," says 11-year-old Shinsaku, "like he knows his owner may not come back."

His name is Hachiko, who waited every afternoon at the train station for his owner, a professor, who died suddenly in 1925.

But Hachiko didn't understand that his master was gone. So for a decade, until he also died, he lived as a stray so he could come to the station at the same time with the same mission. To wait.

In 1934 a statue was erected for the dog said to embody Japan's sense of loyalty after he became famous from newspaper articles and books.

Tokyo's most famous dog also has a role to play in this modern day city of 13 million - because, if you want to link up with someone here, you just say, 'meet me at Hachiko.'"

Over the decades, many a friendship started here - and many a blind date that led to marriage.

And Hachiko still fuels the popularity of the breed - the Akita - distinctly Japanese with what some say are distinctly Japanese values.

"The Akitas are like Samurai warriors," a breeder explained, "instinctively loyal to the leader of their human family."

Americans will learn Hachiko's story in a Richard Gere movie out later this year, but set in the U.S.

Back in Japan, the paw prints at the nearby train station lead thousands to Hachiko.

A dog who was forever lonely for one more pat on the head, one last moment of his master's love.

[newsterI]

Its a great story, somewhere on the web I managed to get a copy of the old movie version of this filmed in Japan, but of course all the dialogue and subtitles are in Japanese.
There is an American version from I think the 1980's and now a new one coming out.
This kind of thing will never happen again, for these days animal control would wisk the dog away and impound/kill them if not adopted out.

There are other stories of dogs somewhat similar to this from long ago, "Owney" the dog who used to ride along with various US Postal service trains;

Owney, posed here with a letter carrier, was a stray mutt who wandered into the Albany, New York, post office in 1888. The clerks let him stay, and he fell asleep on some mailbags. Owney was attracted to the texture or scent of the mailbags and followed them when they were placed on a Railway Mail Service train. Owney began to ride with the bags on trains across the state?and then the country. In 1895 Owney made an around-the-world trip, traveling with mailbags on trains and steamships to Asia and across Europe, before returning to Albany.

Railway mail clerks considered the dog a good luck charm. At a time when train wrecks were all too common, no train Owney rode was ever in a wreck. The Railway mail clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags on his collar. Each time Owney returned home to Albany, the clerks there saved the tags.


http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2c1f_owney.html

[g-gfather]

The savage beast is Michael Vick. Philadelphia,we look to you,to not let
this savage, represent you. Great-Grandfather. For the children and their
love of all the innocent creatures. Please.

[DrFolsom]

Another wonderful story about a dog! It crossed by mind that perhaps this story could be instructive to Michael Vick, the NFL quarterback that was recently released from Leavenworth Penitentiary after serving a two year sentence for bankrolling an interstate gambling operation involving the horrendous activity of dog fighting. Vick not only fought dogs to the death but executed under performing dogs with sadistic joy. His methods included slow hanging from trees, body slamming them to the ground, electrocuting them with jumper cables in his swimming pool, shooting, burying alive and so forth. Family dogs and cats, stolen or from shelters had their mouths wired shut and were then torn apart as training aids for his pit bulls. His associates stated he was amused by all of this, especially finding "funny" a dog set on fire, watching it burn alive. He participated in these atrocious activites for over six years before being caught. Vick was just signed to play football for the Philadelphia Eagles after most teams in the NFL stated they were not interested. For the Hachiko story to be instructive, I must make two assumptions about Michael Vick. First, he actually watches the evening national news, and second, his emotional capacity is not too primitive to have the ability to feel empathy or guilt. I sincerely believe both assumptions are false.

[dotcav]

I loved the Hachiko story. I wanted to know more. The story states that the dog continued to come and with at the station for another 10 years until he died. What happened to the dog during those 10 years? You state he lived as a stray; did the people, after they noticed this same dog kept showing up every day, somehow care for the dog, feed him, somehow attend to him. I would love to hear more of this story.
dotcav

[jmcadoots]

hello, i wanted to give you more info on the hachiko story. i have an akita and their loyalty is unbridled. th estory is a tear jerker, but so beautiful and moving. the dog was found by the owner, they bonded and grew inseperable. every day the dog waitied for his owner to return from work, one day he did not return, the dog went back every day for 10 years wating as he did before, he would gt food from the pople at the station and along his route. he lived as a stray day and night for 10 years ad died at the station as he waited....i have seen the us version with richard gere an dyou will absolutely have to see it!!! just make sure you bring plenty of tissues!!! :0)