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Hachikō, an Akita dog, met his owner at Shibuya Station in Tokyo every evening. After the professor died suddenly at work in 1925, Hachikō kept returning to the station at the same time almost every day for nearly ten years.

Shibuya Station, Tokyo, 1925–1935

NatureHistory

The story behind the card

His owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, taught agriculture at Tokyo Imperial University. He died suddenly in May 1925 in a colleague's office, not during a lecture as is often said. Hachikō was passed between several homes but kept going back to Shibuya. Many commuters took him for a stray until a 1932 article in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper told his story, and he became a national symbol of loyalty. A bronze statue was unveiled at the station in 1934 with Hachikō present. He died in March 1935. The statue was melted down for its metal during the Second World War; the replacement, put up in 1948, is still one of Tokyo's best-known meeting points.

Türkçe oku
Akita cinsi köpek Hachikō, sahibini her akşam Tokyo'daki Shibuya İstasyonu'nda karşılardı. Profesör 1925'te işteyken aniden ölünce Hachikō, yaklaşık on yıl boyunca neredeyse her gün aynı saatte istasyona gelip onu bekledi.
Shibuya İstasyonu, Tokyo, 1925–1935

Sahibi Hidesaburō Ueno, Tokyo İmparatorluk Üniversitesi'nde ziraat hocasıydı. Mayıs 1925'te, sık anlatıldığı gibi ders verirken değil, bir meslektaşının odasındayken aniden öldü. Hachikō bir süre farklı evlerde kaldı ama hep Shibuya'ya döndü. İstasyondan geçenlerin çoğu onu sokak köpeği sanıyordu; Asahi Shimbun gazetesi 1932'de hikâyesini yazınca Japonya'nın sadakat simgesi oldu. 1934'te istasyonda, Hachikō'nun da bulunduğu bir törenle bronz heykeli açıldı. Hachikō Mart 1935'te öldü. İlk heykel İkinci Dünya Savaşı'nda metali için eritildi; 1948'de yerine konan yenisi bugün de Tokyo'nun en bilinen buluşma noktalarından biri.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Hachikō
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