The tale of loyalty, love, and devotion, it would surely bring tears to your eyes.

There are numerous stories of love, friendship, and devotion between dogs and their masters, but none come close to the story of Hachiko. A dog who waited for nine years for his master to return. Let us narrate the immortal story of love, the story of Hachiko.

Who was Hachiko and how he met his master?

Hachiko was a dog of Akita breed, born on a farm in Akita, Japan. In 1924, Professor Ueno from the agriculture department, Tokyo imperial University adopted the Akita pup and named him Hachiko. He lived in Shibuya neighbourhood of Tokyo. Hachiko loved Professor Ueno and used to walk him to Shibuya train station and waited for him to come back. He would wait till the Professor came back and then both of them would head back home.

Tragedy struck  

But in 1925, a tragedy struck and Professor Ueno passed away due to brain haemorrhage while teaching a class. But Hachiko showed up at exactly three o’clock at the train station for his master, who never returned. Every day, he showed up at three o’clock, waiting for the Professor.  Even though he was given away after Professor’s death, but he still came to Shibuya station at exactly three o’clock in the afternoon.

Becoming famous 

Slowly, commuters started to notice the Akita dog who came running every afternoon. Soon after the train station workers started giving treats to Hachiko and even kept him company. He started gaining much popularity with commuters as time passed. Everyone was intrigued by the dog who came unfailingly every afternoon at three. Once, a former student of Professor got wind of Hachiko’s story from a gardener. He was so fascinated by the story that he wrote several articles about this heart-wrenching story. In 1932, one of his articles made way to a national daily, and Hachiko became the symbol of love, trust, and loyalty in Japan.

Hachiko’s Legacy

The age started to catch up with Hachiko, but he never disrupted his daily routine of waiting for his master for nine years and nine months. Finally, he was reunited with his master in his death in March 1935. His death was mourned all over Japan.

His bronze statue was erected at Shibuya station, where dog-lovers all over the world come and cherish the memory of loyal Hachiko.