Rakki-Inu Akita Rescue

Akita are renowned as loyal dogs and are also intelligent. The loyalty of an Akita named Hachikō established the breed as truly loyal to their owners. The famous Akita Hachikō spent nine years waiting daily at the Shibuya railway station for his deceased master to return home. Hachiko's popularity brought back the Akita from the brink of extinction.

 

 

Because of their intelligence, Akita get bored very easily. As a result, they often become destructive and aggressive if not given anything to do. Akita can live happily in apartments as long as they are given plenty of exercise. They need to be socialized as puppies so they are friendly dogs and should have experienced owners. Akita often become excitable when seeing their owners, often wiggling around and making happy grunts and woo-woos.

 

 

Akita are very good with youngsters from their own family, and often quite playful, although they should be watched around other people's children as they could knock them over during play.

 

 

The Akita have a reputation for sometimes being aggressive towards smaller animals or other dogs, particularly those of the same sex. However they can live happily with other dogs and animals providing they are socialized well. They are excellent guard dogs and naturally protective of their home and family. The Akita has a reputation for being an excellent house dog. They make great family dogs with the right training and socialization.

 

The story of Hachiko Hachikō (November 10, 1923–March 8, 1935), known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō ("faithful dog Hachikō" )'hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the dog's birth order in the litter, and 'kō,' meaning prince or duke)), was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, remembered for his loyalty to his owner, even many years after his owner's death.

Shibuya Station as it was in the Taisho and Pre-war Showa eras (1912–1945)

In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life Hachikō 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. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.

Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to 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, Hachikō waited for the return of his owner.

 

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 nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

That same year, one of Ueno's students (who had become an amateur expert on the Akita breed) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home (the home of the former gardener of Professor Ueno — Kikuzaboro Kobayashi) where he learned the history of Hachikō's life. Shortly after this meeting, the former student published a documented census of Akitas in Japan. His research found only 30 purebred Akitas remaining, including Hachikō from Shibuya Station.

 

He returned frequently to visit the dog and over the years published several articles about Hachikō's remarkable loyalty. In 1932 one of these articles, published in Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachikō became a national sensation. 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.

 

Eventually, Hachiko's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.

Hachikō died on March 8, 1935 and was found on a street in Shibuya. His heart was infected with filarial worms and 3-4 yakitori sticks were found in his stomach. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo., Hachikō has a monument on the side of Professor Ueno's grave in the Aoyama Cemetery, Minato, Tokyo, and there is a bronze statue at the Shibuya Station in Tokyo.

Pictured right : Last known photo of Hachikō - pictured with his owner's wife Yaeko Ueno (front row, second from right) and station staff in mourning in Tokyo on March 8, 1935.

Pictured below : (left) Hachiko's stuffed remains at the National Science Museum of Japan. (Right) Hachiko's monument next to Professor Ueno's grave.

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 Ōdate Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachikō was erected on the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.

 

Each year on April 8, Hachikō's devotion is honored with a solemn ceremony of remembrance at Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station. Hundreds of dog lovers often turn out to honor his memory and loyalty.

 

Hachikō has also been featured frequently in popular culture:

 

Hachikō was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachi-kō (Hachikō Monogatari) ハチ公物語 (literally "The Tale of Hachiko"), directed by Seijirō Kōyama, which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spiritual reunion with his master. Considered a blockbuster success, the film was the last big hit for Japanese film studio Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale, released in August 2009, is an American movie starring actor Richard Gere, directed by Lasse Hallström, about Hachikō and his relationship with the professor. The movie was filmed in Rhode Island, and also featured Joan Allen and Jason Alexander.

 

Pictured right: BayCrest's Run Forrest Run "Forrest" who, at the age of 2 years and with lots of movie magic makeup, played senior Hachiko in the Richard Gere movie, "Hachi: A Dog's Tale."

Photo courtesy of Ed and Kathy Coffman  of BayCrest Akitas

Hachikō is also the subject of a 2004 children's book entitled Hachikō: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, written by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene. Another children's book, a short novel for readers of all ages called Hachiko Waits, written by Lesléa Newmanand illustrated by Machiyo Kodaira, was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2004. Hachiko Waits was released in paperback by Square Fish (an imprint of MacMillan) in 2008. Hachikō is featured prominently in the 2008 novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.

 

In 1994, the Nippon Cultural Broadcasting in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachikō barking from an old record that had been broken into several pieces. 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.

 

"Jurassic Bark", episode 7 of season 4 of the animated television series Futurama has an extended homage to Hachikō, with Fry discovering the fossilized remains of his dog, Seymour. After Fry was frozen, Seymour is shown to have waited for Fry to return for 12 years outside Panucci's Pizza, where Fry worked, never disobeying his master's last command to wait for him.

 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "The Gauntlet" makes a reference to Hachikō, with a dog of the same name being the Shredder's pet.

 

The popular trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh features two cards named outstanding dog marron and skull dog marron both of them with the exact same collar and standing in the same position, within the flavor text of one of these cards it states that the dog continues to wait his master even after his own death, as a clear reference to Hachikō.

 

Article from Wikipedia.org

 

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