Hachiko

Sarah of Brit Gal in the USA recommended a movie called Hachi A Dog's Tale quite a while ago.

This evening, I told Art I was getting cabin fever from doing so much scanning. I needed to do something different. We hadn't seen a movie in such a long time we decided to go down to Blockbuster to rent a movie. We looked through the aisle and nothing grabbed me until I saw Hachi A Dog's Tale and remembered Sarah's recommendation. I told Art he should choose a movie, too but he couldn't find anything he wanted to see.

When we went to check out the DVD, I was shocked that it now cost $5.00 for one DVD for 5 days and $1.00 extra for each additional day. Wow! I'm glad we only rented one movie. No wonder there were so few customers in the store.

When we got home I told mom about the movie we were going to watch, but she wasn't especially eager to watch a movie in English. However, I did some heavy convincing, "Mom! I paid $5.00 for this and you have to watch it to make it worth my while!"

She grumbled a little and sat down in my favorite chair to watch it. Well, she quickly got into the story with very little translating from me. It was beautiful! Yes, I did have to wipe my eyes several times, but it was worth it. And... hmmm... I could swear I saw Art wipe a few tears from his cheeks as well. Mom loved it. To my credit, I didn't say I told you so.

Hachiko is a true story. This American version with Richard Gere has adapted the actual event but stayed true to what happened. It tells the story of a dog's loyalty. I wrote about him a long time ago when we went to Japan.

I just copied this off of Wikipedia:

"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 saw him out from the front door and 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 on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting. Hachikō was loyal and every day for the next nine years he waited sitting there amongst the town's folk.

Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at 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 Professor Ueno to return. And each day he did not see his friend among the commuters at the station.

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."


When we went to Japan this spring, we took my aunt to see the Hachiko statue at Shibuya station.

There's something about the Hachiko story that is so powerful.

Art left to take a shower and before he left he said, "Good choice, Sweetie."