Hachikō Statue

In front of you is Hachikō, perhaps the most famous dog in the world. For decades his statue has been the place where Tokyoites meet up when they say ‘see you in Shibuya’.

1A true story

Hachi was born in November 1923 near Ōdate, in Akita Prefecture. His owner was Ueno Hidesaburō, a professor of agricultural engineering at Tokyo Imperial University. Every afternoon the dog went to meet him at Shibuya Station. On 21 May 1925 the professor died suddenly at the university and never came back.

Hachi kept going to the station for almost ten years. The staff and the local residents knew him, and some of them treated him badly; but on 4 October 1932 the Asahi newspaper published his story and he became famous throughout the country. He died on 8 March 1935.

2Two statues

The first statue, by the sculptor Andō Teru, was unveiled in April 1934, with Hachi himself in attendance. During the war it was melted down for its metal. The one you see is the work of the sculptor's son, Andō Takeshi, and it was unveiled in August 1948.

Hachikō's stuffed and mounted body is kept at the National Museum of Nature and Science, in Ueno.

In 2015 the University of Tokyo finally gave him his reunion: a statue in which Hachi leaps joyfully up towards his owner.

3What to look for

• His pose: sitting and alert, gazing towards the station exit.
• The flowers and offerings that visitors sometimes leave at his feet.
• The people waiting: it is still a meeting point today.