Akita in art: how Hachikō's statues shaped the breed's image

Part 1

The Hachikō statue at Shibuya and how it came to be

Hachikō was an Akita born in November 1923 on a farm in Odate, in Akita Prefecture. He became known for walking to Shibuya Station to greet his owner, Professor Hidesaburō Ueno, and for continuing to wait there for years after Ueno died in 1925. After Hachikō's story appeared in a Japanese newspaper in 1932, he became a national celebrity. Sculptor Teru Andō then made a bronze statue of him, which was unveiled at Shibuya Station in April 1934, with Hachikō himself present at the ceremony.

That first statue did not last, even though you might expect a memorial like this to stay untouched. During the Second World War, it was removed and recycled for the war effort. In 1948, Takeshi Andō, the son of the original sculptor, made a second bronze statue, which was unveiled that August and still stands today. The statue moved more than once as the station changed around it, reaching its current spot in 1989. The station entrance nearest it is named Hachikō-guchi, meaning the Hachikō exit.

Part 2

Other statues that show him

Shibuya is not the only place where you can see a statue of this Akita. Odate, the city where Hachikō was born, has its own statue of him, and there is a separate statue at the Akita Dog Museum there too. In 2015, the University of Tokyo's agriculture faculty unveiled a bronze statue showing Hachikō and Professor Ueno meeting again, marking eighty years since Hachikō's death. A replica of the Shibuya statue also stands in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, tied to an American film version of the story.

• Shibuya Station, Tokyo: the original 1934 statue, recast in 1948 after it was melted down during the war.
• Odate, Akita Prefecture: a statue in Hachikō's hometown, plus a separate statue at the Akita Dog Museum.
• University of Tokyo: a statue showing Hachikō and Professor Ueno reuniting, unveiled in 2015.
• Woonsocket, Rhode Island: a replica statue connected to the American film about the story.

Part 3

A mosaic mural at Shibuya Station

Alongside the statue, Shibuya Station also holds a large mosaic artwork of Hachikō. Titled Hachiko Family, it shows Hachikō playing with his parents and siblings and was made by the artist Ryutaro Kitahara, completed in March 1990. It is a gentler companion piece to the solitary statue outside, and one more way this one Akita has been rendered in public art.

Part 4

Hachikō in museum display

Beyond statues, Hachikō's own body became a kind of exhibit. His pelt was preserved after his death, and a taxidermy mount of him is on permanent display at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo. So if you want to see an Akita's actual coat and build rather than an artist's version of it, that museum display sits closer to the real dog than any statue.

Part 5

What the statues tell you about the breed

Hachikō himself was described as a white Akita, a breed known for its large size, gentle temperament, and thick, heavy coat. The Shibuya statue was based on his actual likeness, and a replacement statue made in 1948 still stands today. Photographs of Hachikō from the 1930s still exist, so if you look at them next to the bronze statue, you can judge for yourself how closely the sculpture follows the real dog.