Anyone that has ever loved a dog should read this story. It's an incredible story of love and loyalty between a dog and his owner.

1. The real Hachiko

2. Species Dog
Breed Akita Inu
Gender Male
Born November 10, 1923
near the city of Odate,
Akita Prefecture
Died March 8, 1935 (aged 11)
Shibuya, Tokyo
Resting place National Science Museum of
Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.
Owner Hidesaburo Ueno
Appearance White

3. The people of Shibuya have an expression, “Wait for me
at the Hachi.”
It simply means that they’ll wait by an exit of a train
station,
where a giant bronze statue of a dog stands.
That dog’s name is Hachiko.

4. Among the Japanese, the faithful dog Hachiko is an
endearing symbol of loyalty and friendship.
His owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, was a professor at the
Imperial University in Japan, and brought the
dog home.
A special bond developed between Hachiko and his master;
every day, Hachiko accompanied his friend to the
Shibuya train station, and waited for him there as he
came home.
Passers-by were really touched by the friendship between
Hachiko and Professor Ueno.
There wasn’t a day that Hachiko missed accompanying and
meeting Professor Ueno at the train station.

5. One day, in May 1925, Professor Ueno died
at work, without returning home.
There was Hachiko at the train station,
waiting for his friend.
Yet the trains passed by,
and still no sign of Professor Ueno.
Hachiko finally realized his friend was not
coming, but he kept waiting at that exact time,
at that exact spot at the train station,
for the next 10 years.

6. People warmed up to Hachiko, but in days where
animal psychology and common sense prevailed,
some people were sceptical.
Some people thought it was just a stimulus to the food
and treats given to him by the vendors and
sympathetic passers-by.
Some people thought that the dog was just responding
to conditioned behaviour.
Yet how would you explain that kind of faith, or that
kind of scepticism,
to a dog who just stood at the platform,
waiting for his friend to come home?

7. A whole decade of waiting.
Hachiko escaped from the house-gates of his new
owners to wait for Professor Ueno.
Days, weeks, seasons, and years passed.
The grand dog turned into a shivering mess of
matted fur, his ears droopy, his body skin and bones
from lack of nourishment, the weather, and for the
time passed waiting for his friend.
Worms started eating at his stomach, his skin, and
in a poetic irony known only to animal experts,
worms started eating at his heart.
The loyal dog who waited for his master
died in his sleep,
at the very same path he walked home
with his friend.

8. The heartwarming – and heartbreaking – story of
Professor Ueno and Hachiko is a telling reminder of
faith. Not of religious ones or spiritual ones, but things
we often take for granted.
Things like friendship, romance, family, and everything
else that has to do with our relationships with people.
We always think of dogs as “lesser creatures,” but it
seems that, at least in the charming story of Hachiko,
they’re capable of a lot more loyalty than we are.
We shift, if only because we are capable of doing it.
We are more than capable of losing trust,
of dropping friendships, of messing around with
relationships we forge,
and we do it simply because it “makes our lives better.”
Not to dogs, though.
They stay loyal, steadfast, and faithful.

9. In many human senses, that’s a fault, but what
makes this so heart-wrenching for me was for
Hachiko to know his friend died a long time ago,
yet he still kept waiting by that same
spot in the same station.
Had dogs been given the same judgment as humans
those things would have been kept as matters of the
heart, but not to dogs.
Some of us even purposefully forget those
friendships “just because,”
with too much emphasis on the art of letting go,
but not much for holding on.

10. Maybe it has something to do with stimuli and
Pavlovian responses to food,
but I’m more inclined to believe the fantasy or
the ideal;
that Hachiko waited for his friend so that they
can go home.
If parting is such sweet sorrow and togetherness
is such joy,
I think that waiting is the most
important moment of all.

11. A poem for Hachiko...
(Wait for Me at the) Hachi
The leaves fall in autumn, and turn to snow on my feet
The fresh spring breeze gives way to the cheer of summer
sun.
Things around me change, but as I lay down
I’m waiting for you here again.
The first train passes by, and the doors open;
I wait for you to step out of one of the coaches.
With a spring in our steps, we make the long journey home.
The shadows loom, and fade to the darkness of the night
The crowded platforms now silent, bathed in the glow of lamps.
Someone passes by, and asks me why I’m still waiting
But tomorrow, I’ll be back here again.

12. Another train passes by, and the doors open;
I wait for you to step out of one of the coaches.
I get up to my feet, and make my long journey home.
Minutes turn to hours, days to weeks and months
And Time counts loyalty in the fathoms of years
A bond – tethered – like Earth is to Heaven
I’ll wait for you right here, again.
The last train passes by, and the doors open;
I wait for you to step out of one of the coaches.
With faltering steps, I make my long journey home.
The faces turn familiar, my sense of smell betrays me
I look out the distance with my failing eyes for the last train.
A decade has passed, and I’ll keep waiting
Until we’ll walk home together again.
Source: http://marouncensored.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/the-
heartwarming-and-heartbreaking-story-of-hachiko/

13. Hachiko died on March 8, 1935.
He died at the same spot where his
owner found him.
His stuffed and mounted remains are
kept at the National Science Museum
of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.

14. In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was
erected at Shibuya Station, and Hachiko 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 Hachiko
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
"Hachiko-guchi", meaning "The Hachiko Exit", and is
one of Shibuya Station's five exits.

15. A similar statue stands in Hachiko's hometown, in
front of Odate Station.
In 2004, a new statue of Hachiko was erected on
the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front
of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.
Each year on March 8, Hachiko'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

16. Hachiko: A Dog's Story, released in August 2009, is an
American movie starring actor Richard Gere, directed
by Lasse Hallström, about Hachiko and his relationship
with the professor.
The movie was filmed in Rhode Island, and also
featured Joan Allen and Jason Alexander.
Three adult Akitas - Chico, Layla, and Forrest - played the role of Hachiko,
depicting different parts of the dog’s life. The movie also stars Joan Allen, Sarah
Roemer, Erick Avari, and Jason Alexander.
From what is known, the movie will closely follow the true story of Hachiko and
his owner, even though the new movie is set in modern day America, instead of 1924
Japan.