Your story matters,
and many of the chapters in the book
of your life are yet to be written.
Hot off the Press: Special Announcement for all Hachiko Fans!
It’s Hachiko 78th memorial anniversary of his passing, so I’m thrilled to introduce “Hachi: The Truth of the Life and Legend of the Most Famous Dog in Japan” by historian Mayumi Itoh.
Itoh details little known facts about Hachiko’s life – full of twists and turns and certainly “stranger than fiction.” Within the pages, you’ll learn how the story of the loyal dog was created, what happened to his first statue, what his life was really like prior to being discovered… and much, much more.
Digging deep into Hachiko’s intriguing past, Itoh shares a historical perspective on the impact between the famous dog of Japan and Japanese society of that era. It’s compelling and a must read for any true Hachi lover.
I learned more about Hachi in one day than in years!
Update: Since this book was published in 2013, new information has been uncovered about the loyal Akita. In 2017, Itoh created a substantial revision called, “Hachi: The Truth of the Life and Legend of the Most Famous Dog in Japan.” The author summarizes her efforts, “In essence, this book has everything that people ever wanted to know about the most famous dog in Japan.” Having used Itoh’s book as reference, I agree! It’s a totally fascinating read that will leave Hachi fans riveted.
Animals in Wartime
A former Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Itoh writes on Japanese foreign policy as well as domestic politics for academic journals. In her 2010 book, “Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy: The Silent Victims of World War II”, Itoh remembers, “It is to be hoped that mankind has learned its lesson from the march of folly during World War II and other wars in recent years, in which countless animals have perished…”
“It is further to be hoped that international organizations…will mobilize their forces to lobby governments to ratify an international treaty concerning the protection and care of captive animals in times of war and disaster… This application to animals of 1949 Geneva Convention concerning the treatment of non-combatants would mark the moral progress of mankind, as suggested by Mahatma Gandhi, if belatedly.”
[bctt tweet=”The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of humankind. Mahatma Gandhi” username=”VickiWongHachi”]
After seeing Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, and discovering it’s based on a real story, is there anything you wanted to know? Now you can find out in “Hachi: The Truth of the Life and Legend of the Most Famous Dog in Japan.”
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Hachiko…May you always be remembered and honored , and I will be obtaining the book by Ms Ithoh.
Thank you Vicki for informing us about the book…and as always, keeping this website going.
Thanks for your warm wishes Bruce! Itoh also wrote a book on the killings suffered by zoo animals during wartime. I have added it to my blog entry in hopes that policies be implemented to protect all captive animals.
Hi
I live in Necochea, Republic of Argentina
I read Mrs Itoh´s book about the life of Hachiko. I do appreciate her work very much as it shows the life of Hachiko from the perspective of the people who knew him.
The story of Hachiko is unique for many reasons.
Actually by the time I was commited to know more about it by myself I knew about her book and purchased it in Kindle version.
I COULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITH HER AS I WANTED TO EXPRESS SOME OF THE NEXT COMMENTS
She no longer teaches at the University of Nevada.
By the time that I was seeking for detailed information regarding the last hours of Hachiko I´ve noted that Mayumi did not realize of the existance of a relevant clue in this sense which is present in her important work .
I guess that most people prefers not to think about the sad part of the story.
But ON THE CONTRARY I am absolutelly sure that such missing time contained MORE GIFTS from the big and noble heart of Hachiko.
In order to sustain that clue I got first to become an expert on the railroad in the area of Shibuya (period 1921-1935).
Hope you have some time to review my comments.
THE FACTS
I have found extremelly interesting the testimony of Mr Hirokichi Saito. The one Mayumi has included in her book.
Mr Saito worried about Hachiko as much as Mr Ueno.
There´s a strong lead which was originated in those days in which he was worried about the sorrow he observed in Hachiko.
He said that shortly after 1928 when Mr Kikusaburo Kobayashi adopted Hachiko, because he and his brother Tomokichi were busy working in the gardens of the neighborhood ,trusted two people at different times who cared for him and gave him a good amount of exercise. He also said that this two people died soon and then Hachiko started to spend more time at Shibuya Station.
ANALYSIS
1) Mr Saito said that the second and last one of this two friends of Hachiko worked “IN A STATIONARY STORE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE POLICE STATION UNDER THE RAILROAD GILDERS. (sic)”
1-a) Shibuya Police Station was located in address 24 3-chome Naka dori (some refers to it as 3rd Street Nakato) in Shibuya Ward.
(only in the LATE sixties when police force increased its´ staff moved to its´ current location).
THUS THE PLACE MR SAITO MENTIONS IS THE AREA OF THE INARI BRIDGE.
( See attached picture showing the area (old Shibuya Police Station and Inari Bridge circa 1961). Railroad tracks (hidden) are located at the right side of this photo)
1-b) The Tokyu Toyoko portion of the tracks leading to Daykaniama Station (built in 1927) were on ground level only in a short range (about 60 meters) by the Tokyu Toyoko building.
FROM HERE ALONG THE INARI BRIDGE AREA AND BEYOND THEY ARE ALL THE WAY ELEVATED (ABOVE GROUND LEVEL).
1-c) Mr Saito added that HE SAW THIS MAN OFTEN GIVING HACHIKO WATER.
This is proof of Hachiko´s presence in THIS area by about year 1929.
HACHIKO KNEW THE PATH TO GET THERE.
THEORY
I say that by early noon of March 8th 1935, 02:00 AM after he went to see off Taro and left from the issuing tickets room in Shibuya Station, Hachiko headed to the home of the person who took care of him in 1929. The one who attended that stationary store in the Inari Bridge area.
COMMENTS
– During his last hours alive Hachiko seemed to visit the few people who were kind to him at the time he was not famous.
Since Hachiko could never understand the death of people he used to think his friends may be “out there” well….just like dogs behave , you know
– HACHIKO DIDN´T KNOW THE TAKIZAWA FAMILY MEMBERS.
In fact Mrs Haruno Takizawa said that Hachiko have never visited them even once.
– In the decade of the thirties the area of the Inari bridge was occupied by a tight concentration of about seven wooden houses. They were small shops and family homes as well. Those spread over a small extensión not larger than about 60 meters.
Then the city lights formed a line departing from the front of the Tokyu Toyoko building and extended along the Meiji Dori. The alley by the Inari bridge was completely dark. Only the entrance to it was barely iluminated.
At about 3:00 AM in the morning without moonlight (New Moon on March 8th 1935) Hachiko could not go any further there. He just layed down against the wicket of Takizawa liquor store which was located at the entrance of the alley by the Inari bridge. He then felt asleep he slept there and finally died quietly a couple of hours later. I think that actually he planned to visit the house of the person who took care of him in 1929 but he couldn´t.
So far there´s enough evidence to think positive towards this posibility.
Kind regards
Sergio
Hi Sergio,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Ms. Itoh’s book and Hachiko’s last years! You are obviously a big admirer of Hachi too.
Best, Vicki
You´re welcome
Thank you for your kind words
Vicky I think that you are really in a position in which it´s much easier for you to contact Mayumi there and tell her about those conclusions
Believe me. I have conducted an important research before I decided to let you know them.
I´ve worked extensivelly in the topographic / geographical area in order to sustain this study
Please try to talk to Mayumi. I could not find her
Let me know if you know about her
God bless you
Most respectfully
Sergio Pardal
Dear Mr. Sergio Pardal,
Thank you very much for reading the Hachi book very carefully and thoroughly. Your comments indicate your deep interest as well as your profound understanding of Hachi. As a Hachiko fan myself, I thank you for this.
I think that your theory is possible, but I am not an expert of geography and topography as you are. I understand that the Shibuya area has gone through many changes each time development or redevelopment took place. I am not familiar with the geography of the area of the time when Hachi lived, other than reading rough descriptions of the area in the Hachiko literature.
Saito Hirokichi writes that the person who worked at the stationery store and used to give water to Hachi died young, but he does not say when this person died. Therefore, I could not find out how long and exactly which year(s) this person had given water to Hachi and when he died. You estimate this to be by 1929 from your geographical survey, and I commend your research on this.
I believe that you made a video of the neighborhood of Shibuya leading up to Hachiko Bronze Statue, which is posted online. I watched it several times. Thank you.
Thank you very much for sharing the admiration for Hachi.
I look forward to his ninetieth birthday cerebration this November!
All best regards,
Mayumi Itoh
Nice to meet you Mrs Itoh
Sorry about the delay in replying your e-mail message.
Franckly I really thought that I could hardly meet you in the Internet and discuss those facts regarding the life of Hachiko
WHAT A BIG SURPRISE ! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY !
SPECIAL THANKS to Vicky for contacting you and let you know about my interest in telling you about this theory as well
Yes madam. I think that certainly there´s a high degree of possibility in this theory basically because Mrs Takizawa said that she never saw Hachiko in the area even once.
Naturally count on me for further research or help. Please feel free to write your comments or inquiries anytime.
Yes, unfortunatelly Mr Saito didn´t say what year that person died and besides he forgot to mention that he had to cross the Inari bridge in order to reach the area of the railroad gilders That would instantly oriented you while you were studying his testimony.
BUT I´M SURE YEAR WAS 1929 AND JUST FOR A FEW MONTHS.
NOTE HOW MR SAITO CLEARLY SEEMS TO RECALL LIVELY THE NEWSPAPER DELIVERY MAN WHO TOOK CARE OF HACHI IN FIRST PLACE AND NOT THE EMPLOYEE AT THE STATIONARY STORE.
As you stated before a lot of work´s been made in the area and I could observe how fast the landscape was changing through time
About expanding this research I´d love it but I´d need a few more specific pictures of the area of the Inari bridge in the 30`s.
I could get even better results but most of the ones I have are those posted by taken by the staff of Tokyu Toyoko while performing their job in the railroad through all these years.
The missing specific pictures of the area are really important pieces of information in this research.
One thing else Mrs Itoh
BUT PERHAPS MAY BE AVAILABLE YET OUT THERE A KEY
PIECE OF INFORMATION
To establish if the Takizawa family moved from a different location and occuped the house by the Inari bridge later.
This because if so then they could have open their liquor store after it was stationary store once. In such case that would explain why did Hachi went there that day.
I know old houses there no longer exists. The remaining ones were
removed in the beginning of the seventies.
And naturally most people from the old Shibuya days have passed away.
Who knows madam May be somewhere, somebody´s got the answer
What do you think?
Again count on me for anything in this project and ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU DO MUCH TO YOU AND VICKY FOR EVERYTHING!!!
Try to write to my Hushmail e-mail address.
Kind regards
Sergio
Mrs Itoh:
Commendament accomplished
I took a couple of hours in order to check my notes and provide you with accurate answers in relation to the topic regarding the time in which the employee of the stationary store was giving water to Hachi.
O.K
Mr Saito met Hachi and Mr Kobayashi in July 1928. Since then Mr Saito followed Hachi for months. He was mainly worried about his safety so he observed closely his routine for sometime, a few months. (Literally he was following Hachi through the neighborhood of Shibuya )
During this time he saw Hachi drinking water in the area below the railroad girders (place corresponds to Tokyu Toyoko line towards Daykaniama Station).
In fact Mr Saito mentions that he himself met the man there and asked him to take care of Hachiko
In consequence no doubt that this has happened shortly after Saito met Hachi
There´s a high degree of choice through the next two following months of the 1928. (August or September)
Dear Mr. Sergio Pardal,
Thank you for your further thought. You are a remarkable researcher.
I agree with your estimate of the time and year. I wish that there are more documents on that time; but unfortunately, the only reliable source of information on Hachi at that time is Saito’s writings, and Saito did not leave a detained record as we wish. He would not have anticipated that people like us are doing research on Hachi 90 years later.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Hachi.
Mayumi Itoh
Good. You agree with the year
Hello again
Mrs Itoh Almost forgot madam
I mean that you must contact Mrs Takizawa´s son RYOICHI TAKIZAWA He´s alive he was only a baby in 1935 but he grew up in that house and neighborhood and his mother told him the whole story.
HE IS THE RIGHT MAN TO ASK ABOUT THOSE DETAILS ABOUT THE PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH THEY LIVED IN THE INARI BRIDGE AREA.
WHETHER IF THEY ALWAYS LIVED THERE OR IF THEY MOVED THERE LET´S SAY AFTER 1928
THIS IS A GOOD CHANCE FOR ACHIEVING MORE ACCURATE AND IMPORTANT ANSWERS
Please check this website address You´ll find there the testimony of Mr Ryoichi Takizawa
I´M ABSOLUTELLY SURE HE´S GONNA HELP US BECAUSE HE HAS GOOD FEELING TOWARDS THE MEMORY OF HACHIKO.
PLEASE TRY TO CONTACT HIM AND DON´T FORGET TO KEEP ME POSTED
THAT WEBSITE ADDRESS IS :
http://www.east-shibuya.jpn.org/bunka/article
Hachiko deserves the best of us
Thank you again so much for your messages PLEASE MEET MR TAKIZAWA
Most respectfully
Sergio (E-MAIL: sergio_pardal@hushmail.com)
Dear Sergio-san,
Thank you for your followup message.
I will check the website you mentioned and email to your address
afterwards.
Sincerely,
Mayumi Itoh
Vicki thank you so much for the work you have done to help keep the story of Hachi alive. I found this site after watching the movie. I wanted to learn more about the originsl Hachi and landed here. Thanks for the book reference, I downloaded it and read it last week. Like the movie, I was moved to tears many times. How blessed we are to share our lives with dogs! Thanks again…
Hi John,
Since I first saw Hachi’s statue over 25 years ago, I just loved his story. We are indeed blessed by our animals, and have so much to teach us too. Thank you for your kind thoughts!
Best, Vicki
I love the story of Hachi and found his loyalty to be hauntingly beautiful. I was wondering if this story will be coming out in paperback as well?
Thanks.
Hi Anne,
Thank you for sharing your love of Hachi. It’s a simple, but profoundly touching story- since the 1930’s. I believe Ms. Mayumi Itoh’s book is available (on Amazon) as an ebook only.
Best, Vicki
New Discovery on Hachi’s Death!
Contrary to the newspaper article–which stated that Hachi had never been to the other side of Shibuya Station where the Takizawa Liquor Store was located. People therefore wondered why he went there on the night he died there–Hachi actually used to go to the store.
Thanks to one of Hachiko enthusiasts, Mr. Sergio Pardal, who found a Shibuya Town newsletter article about Hachiko, a new fact emerged. I thought that you would like to share this new discovery about Hachi’s life:
According to the newsletter article, Takizawa Haruno, who found Hachi dead in front of her house, knew Hachi well. Her son, Ryoichi, heard from his mother that Hachi used to come to the store and Haruno fed him. The store had a stock of food for sale and had always something to feed him, such as snacks and dried bananas. Therefore, contrary to the newspaper article, Hachi used to go to the area where the Takizawa Liquor Store was located. Sensing an imminent death, Hachi probably went there in order to see Haruno for the last time and say good-bye to her. It would make sense.
It is good to know that there were some decent people who were truly kind to Hachi, not for the sake of making their names out of Hachiko. Hachi and Haruno are reunited in heaven now.
We are one step closer to the truth now. Thank you very much for your continuing interest and affection for Hachiko.
All best regards,
Mayumi Itoh
I’d like to send Mayumi Itoh and Vicky Wong copies of a book I published in 2002, Pawprints in Japan: Dogs in Myth and History by Nicholas C. Rhoden, which has a chapter on Hachi. I very much appreciate what you two have done to keep alive Hachi’s memory. If you contact me privately to send me your addresses, I’ll send you each a copy of the book. It’s also available from the Akita Club of America’s website, with all proceeds going for health research for Akitas.
Hi Linda,
We’d love to read your book! Please leave your email address for us at the “contact me” area of this website. Thank you for sharing this.
Best, Vicki
I understand that there was an inquiry on the announcement of a new discovery of the day Hachi died, posted in June. While there is no solid proof, I am inclined to believe the story of Takizawa Royichi, which was provided by Mr. Sergio Pardal. Now that Takizawa Haruno is gone, there is no way to confirm the accuracy of this information, however, I would like to believe that Takizawa Ryoichi told the truth, as told by his mother. That’s all I can say to this matter. Thank you for your continuing interest in Hachi.
Hi mrs Itoh.
i’m followin’ this thread since i’ve read your book and i’ve tried to contact you but i never found the way to, so first of all, let me thank you for your detailed book who opened an entire world for all the Hachi fans who could not read and search all the informations that you brought to us due to the language difficulty. . It’s absolutely the most important and richest document that we have today.
In the last past year ( and maybe something more ) i spent a lot of time making my own researches, trying to find documents and informations about all those things that we don’t still know about Hachi.
I’ve been lucky enough to come into possession of some pictures of Shibuya and the near neighborhood dated around 1920/1940 circa so i’ve been able to triangulate the position of many important spots, for example the wooden stores/houses that sorrounded the Inari bridge where Hachi stopped and passed away ( some pictures show the exact topology of the 1935 so i’ve been able to find the exact spot where the poor Hachi died ) , or the path from Kobayashi’s house to Shibuya Station.
I have even a large set of pictures that i’d like to show you because i know that some of them are very rare in the western world and maybe there’s something that isn’t well known in Japan either !
I give you my e-mail address if you wish to contact me, I’d like to share with you this informations and i’d love to talk with you about Hachi. All our time spent about a story of 90 years ago is worth if the world will know what this amazing dog did for his master, Hachi deserves all we can do.
ilcialdo@gmail.com
Thanks again mrs Itoh.
Best regards.
Ronnie.
Dear Ms. Ronnie,
Thank you very much for your comments and for your thorough understanding of the Hachi book. It is admirable that you made your own research and made interesting findings for yourself.
This book is my second work on animals. If you are interested, you can preview my previous work on zoo animals on Amazon, because this project had inspired me to write about Hachiko. I am currently working on Sino-Japanese relations. Afterwards, I plan to work on Japanese culture and tradition of mourning and honoring the death of animals, including the whales.
Best wishes for you and for your projects.
Hachi is watching over us forever,
Mayumi Itoh
Hi mrs itoh and Viki. Why i am writing like this is because i just want to say that you two are doing such a great work when it comes to Hachi and the truth about his life! I am a big fan of Akitas and especially Hachi! I have watched the movie a several times and i cry like a waterfall every time. It really got straight into my heart. It gives me tears in my eyes when im just looking at a photo of him. So i REALLY apprichiate the work you are doing and i want to wish you the best of good luck! The loyalness and faithfulness of Hachi is impossible to describe, he really showed us how much the love between the man and his best friend really meant to him, so the least we can do for him now is what you are doing right now. Im sorry im not to any help though. But as i said i want to wish you the best of good luck! Me and all the other fans of Hachi are really grateful! And sorry for my bad english.
Dear Leonard-san,
Thank you very much for your kind comments.
I cannot agree with you more about the deep feelings toward Hachi.
Let’s hope that all the living things can coexist peacefully.
合掌（Gassho–Buddhist-style prayer offered in Japan)…
Mayumi Itoh
Hachiko, the loyal and faithful dog who spend the rest of his life waiting for his decased master to come home. The things you did will never be forgotten. you will always be in our hearts. We will never forget you!
R.I.P Hachiko
I am from the Philippines and just heard about Hachi 10 years ago but just recently watched the movie. The two movies are really sad but good to know that the real daily encounters of Hachi after his master’s death is really not that sad. He had the gardener to take of him and the wife still visits the dog regularly. There are people who give him food and water. This is good to know that Hachi’s life is not totally miserable although waiting for 10 years for a deceased master is itself miserable.
We are just a few months away to Hachi’s 80th death anniversary. Hope Hachi was reborn or reincarnated multiple times where his life will be very happy as his master will live with him in his next lives.
Finally, I am able to purchase and read this book in Kindle.
If this will be judged from a critic’s point of view, I can say that it is only average because the author has a tendency to keep on repeating information. It’s like going back and forth. However, I am not judging this book based on how it is written. I am interested on its content and information it has provided.
The book was published 26 years after the release of the Japanese movie and 4 years after the release of American movie version of Hachi so I understand that there are lot of things not covered in the film. Comparing it against the book, I can say that I felt better after reading the book. While the story is still sad, it is not as heart wrenching as compared to the two versions of the movie.
There are a lot of details written in the book on Hachi’s life after Professor Ueno died and it is a revelation that they are 3 dogs going to the train station and other places where professor goes and wait for him to arrive. Although Hachi’s story is really sad, good to know that there are some people that cared for him even when he is not yet famous. His story is really sad because when he is still unknown, a lot of people are abusing him like writing on his face.
I also understood that Japanese Akita can’t have another master as while he was taken care by the former gardener, Hachi’s life is not anymore the same as he always have his head down and only have this happy face when he sees the professor’s widow through the years. It is touching if that could have been seen in the two movies.
This book is a great one for keeps that I will read once in a while if I remember Hachi.
Ms. Mayumi Itoh or anyone that reads this, are there any hard copies of this book available? My dad is intrigued by this story and I would like to get him a copy for Christmas. Thank you.
Thank you for reading Hachi’s book and for your interest in Hachi’s story. Unfortunately, a hard copy is not published yet. I hope to find a way to do so in the near future. Recently, I uploaded a short piece about Hachi on Youtube. Best wishes.
Dear George-san,
Happy New Year!
I hope this update it not too late for you. A paperback and update version of Hachi biography was published in 2018. The link is below. I hope you and your father enjoy reading it. All the best,
https://www.amazon.com/HACHIKO-SOLVING-TWENTY-MYSTERIES-FAMOUS/dp/1973380137
Hopefully a hard copy version will be published soon. There is much fascinating detail about Hachi’s life covered in this e-book!
Hello
I’m a fan of HACHIKO …
The investigation of Mr. Sergio Andres is very interesting but unfortunately there is no news. Is there a weeb site that gathers the documents of the investigation?
Do you know a weeb site that gathers everything related to HACHIKO ..?
My english is very bad I do not express myself as I wish I am sorry ..
If you wish to contact me bernard.valerian@gmx.fr
thank you
Sweet thought to all
I know a lot about Hachi’s life, but it’s never enough and I appreciate all the detailed information on the blog greetings to all
Hachi continues to fascinate people after all these years. I’m happy you enjoy hearing more!