Hachiko

Warning: This one is a tearjerker.  I’ll give you a moment to pull out your tissues, find your happy place, whatever you need to do.

When my friend asked me to meet her next to Hachiko at Shibuya Station, I immediately knew what she was referring to, although I had never been to the landmark myself.  The Hachiko statue is a famous rendezvous point next to Shibuya Station.  Hachiko was the name of a very loyal dog and is the subject of the statue.  In fact, the story goes that Hachiko’s owner was a professor at the University of Tokyo.  Everyday Hachiko would meet the professor at Shibuya Station as he came home from work.  One day the professor passed away while at work and did not return to meet his loyal dog at the station for the walk home.  Despite the fact that the professor never came, Hachiko continued to come to the station like clockwork everyday to wait for the professor’s train.  Hachiko waited every day for the next nine years until his death.  It is nice that people decided to use Hachiko's statue as a waiting place because nowadays Hachiko never waits alone.

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