http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikō?
(suggest you click on link to view pics of dog / statue)
from wikipedia via digg, all legal mumbo jumbo applies:
**********************************
Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!
Hachikō
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hachikō (born November 10, 1923, died March 8, 1935), sometimes known in Japanese as 忠犬 ハチ公 (chūken hachikō, lit. 'faithful dog Hachikō'), was an Akita dog born in the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture remembered for his loyalty to his master.
In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesamurō Ueno (上野英三郎), a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. Even after Ueno's death in May 1925, Hachikō returned every day to the station to wait for him, and did so for the next 11 years.
Hachikō's devotion moved those around him, who nicknamed him "faithful dog". Some kindly vendors who saw the dog waiting every day would give him small bits of food and water. This has caused some people to say that he only returned to the station in order to receive these treats, but this does not answer why he would return only at the time his master's train was due, and not remain begging after.
That same year, another of Ueno's former students (who had become something of an expert on Akitas) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home 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.
Ueno's former student 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's largest newspaper, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachikō became a sensation throughout the land. 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.
Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, of filariasis. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum in Ueno, Tokyo.
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. After the war, Hachikō was not forgotten. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Ando Takeshi, 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.
A similar statue stands in Hachikō's hometown, in front of Odate 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.
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.
Hachikō was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachikō Monogatari,[1] which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spirtual reunion with his master, the Professor. He is also the subject of a 2004 children's book named 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 Newman and illustrated by Machiyo Kodaira was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2004.
In 1994, the Culture Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachikō barking from an old record that had 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.[2] This event was testimony to Hachikō's continuing popularity.
[edit] References in popular culture
* In the tokusatsu film Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys, just before Gamera makes his appearance in Shibuya, fire and debris dramatically engulf the Hachikō statue.
* Hachikō's statue was a location featured in Leg 11 of the Reality TV Series The Amazing Race 9 as the location of a clue.
* Hachi is the default name of a pet dog for samurai characters in the Nethack computer game.
* The main characters of SuperGALS! often hang out and meet at Hachi's statue.
* In the manga and anime series Nana, one of the main characters (Nana Komatsu) is nicknamed Hachi due to her "tag along" sense of loyalty.
* In the manga and anime series One Piece the dog Chou-Chou keeps guarding his deceased owner's pet shop even after his owner's death.
* The statue is featured in cartoon form in the "Speak No Evil" episode of My Life As a Teenage Robot.
* The statue of Hachikō is shown in the anime Omishi Magical Theater: Risky Safety.
* In episode 49 of the Maison Ikkoku anime, the statue of Hachikō is used to help one of the characters (Coach Mitaka) get over his fear of dogs.
* In episode 28 of the Fortune Dogs anime, Hachiko is remembered: Rikyu, an old dog, waits patiently for his master — who is dead — in front of the train station. He dies there, and finally dog and master are reunited again.
* In the episode "Jurassic Bark" of the animated series Futurama, we learn what originally happened to the main character's dog, Seymour. After Fry accidentally gets frozen in the cryogenics lab, Seymour is shown waiting at Fry's place of work every day until he dies several years later. The story is much like that of Hachikō and Ueno.
[edit] See also
* Greyfriars Bobby, the faithful Edinburgh dog
* List of famous dogs
[edit] References
1. ^ Hachikō Monogatari film's entry at IMDB.com
2. ^ Hachiko Speaks! from petpublishing.com
(suggest you click on link to view pics of dog / statue)
from wikipedia via digg, all legal mumbo jumbo applies:
**********************************
Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running!
Hachikō
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hachikō (born November 10, 1923, died March 8, 1935), sometimes known in Japanese as 忠犬 ハチ公 (chūken hachikō, lit. 'faithful dog Hachikō'), was an Akita dog born in the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture remembered for his loyalty to his master.
In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesamurō Ueno (上野英三郎), a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner's life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. Even after Ueno's death in May 1925, Hachikō returned every day to the station to wait for him, and did so for the next 11 years.
Hachikō's devotion moved those around him, who nicknamed him "faithful dog". Some kindly vendors who saw the dog waiting every day would give him small bits of food and water. This has caused some people to say that he only returned to the station in order to receive these treats, but this does not answer why he would return only at the time his master's train was due, and not remain begging after.
That same year, another of Ueno's former students (who had become something of an expert on Akitas) saw the dog at the station and followed him to the Kobayashi home 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.
Ueno's former student 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's largest newspaper, threw the dog into the national spotlight. Hachikō became a sensation throughout the land. 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.
Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, of filariasis. His stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum in Ueno, Tokyo.
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. After the war, Hachikō was not forgotten. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned Ando Takeshi, 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.
A similar statue stands in Hachikō's hometown, in front of Odate 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.
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.
Hachikō was the subject of the 1987 movie Hachikō Monogatari,[1] which told the story of his life from his birth up until his death and imagined spirtual reunion with his master, the Professor. He is also the subject of a 2004 children's book named 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 Newman and illustrated by Machiyo Kodaira was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 2004.
In 1994, the Culture Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Japan was able to lift a recording of Hachikō barking from an old record that had 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.[2] This event was testimony to Hachikō's continuing popularity.
[edit] References in popular culture
* In the tokusatsu film Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys, just before Gamera makes his appearance in Shibuya, fire and debris dramatically engulf the Hachikō statue.
* Hachikō's statue was a location featured in Leg 11 of the Reality TV Series The Amazing Race 9 as the location of a clue.
* Hachi is the default name of a pet dog for samurai characters in the Nethack computer game.
* The main characters of SuperGALS! often hang out and meet at Hachi's statue.
* In the manga and anime series Nana, one of the main characters (Nana Komatsu) is nicknamed Hachi due to her "tag along" sense of loyalty.
* In the manga and anime series One Piece the dog Chou-Chou keeps guarding his deceased owner's pet shop even after his owner's death.
* The statue is featured in cartoon form in the "Speak No Evil" episode of My Life As a Teenage Robot.
* The statue of Hachikō is shown in the anime Omishi Magical Theater: Risky Safety.
* In episode 49 of the Maison Ikkoku anime, the statue of Hachikō is used to help one of the characters (Coach Mitaka) get over his fear of dogs.
* In episode 28 of the Fortune Dogs anime, Hachiko is remembered: Rikyu, an old dog, waits patiently for his master — who is dead — in front of the train station. He dies there, and finally dog and master are reunited again.
* In the episode "Jurassic Bark" of the animated series Futurama, we learn what originally happened to the main character's dog, Seymour. After Fry accidentally gets frozen in the cryogenics lab, Seymour is shown waiting at Fry's place of work every day until he dies several years later. The story is much like that of Hachikō and Ueno.
[edit] See also
* Greyfriars Bobby, the faithful Edinburgh dog
* List of famous dogs
[edit] References
1. ^ Hachikō Monogatari film's entry at IMDB.com
2. ^ Hachiko Speaks! from petpublishing.com
J/K
