Hachiko: A Dog's Story, 2009

It was Good Friday. A good movie for the cozy night before head to bed for a good rest.

It was based on a true story of the faithful dog Hachiko. In 1924, Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life Hachiko saw him out 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 did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.

Hachiko was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for Professor Ueno to return. And each day he did not see his friend among the commuters at the station.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachiko attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachiko and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for nine years, with Hachiko appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station.

Hachiko died on a street in Shibuya on Mar 8, 1935. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of  Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.

In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya StationHachiko 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 Hachiko 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 "Hachiko-guchi", meaning "The Hachiko Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.