Hachiko statue in Shibuya: history, location, and visiting tips

Part 1

What the statue is and why it stands there

The bronze statue of Hachiko stands in Hachiko Square, right outside the Hachiko Exit of Shibuya Station. It sits only a short walk from the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world. Hachiko was born in 1923 near Odate in Akita Prefecture, and Professor Ueno adopted him and brought him to live in Tokyo. Each day, Hachiko walked with Ueno to the station in the morning and returned there to meet him in the evening. The statue stands at Shibuya Station, where Hachiko once waited for Ueno. The square is a popular meeting spot for locals and a popular photo spot for tourists.

Part 2

The original 1934 statue and what happened to it

The first Hachiko statue was unveiled at Shibuya Station in April 1934, while Hachiko was still alive. Sculptor Teru Ando made the bronze figure, and Hachiko himself was present at the unveiling ceremony. Hachiko kept waiting at the station until his own death in March 1935, less than a year after that statue went up. During World War II, the statue was melted down as part of the country's wartime metal shortages. The Japan Times once ran an April Fools' story claiming the statue had been stolen by metal thieves.

Part 3

The 1948 replacement statue you see today

In 1948, Takeshi Ando, the son of the original sculptor, was commissioned to make a new statue. The new bronze was erected in August 1948, and a dedication ceremony marked its unveiling. The nearby station entrance was renamed Hachiko-guchi, meaning the Hachiko Exit, after the new statue went up. That 1948 statue is the one you see in Shibuya today, and it has stood there without damage ever since it went up.

Part 4

Visiting the statue in Shibuya today

The statue stands in the small plaza just outside the ticket gates, a short walk from the Hachiko Exit. It's free to visit and open around the clock, so you and your dog can stop by whenever it suits your plans. Mornings before around 9 a.m. tend to be the quietest time to get near the statue, since a steady queue for photos builds up later in the day. Evenings and weekends are usually the busiest, because the square doubles as one of Tokyo's most popular meeting points before people head out for dinner or drinks. Some visitors reach out to touch the statue's bronze legs, which have grown shiny from decades of hands.

Nearby sites worth a look

• The Hachiko Family mosaic mural inside the station.
• Aoyama Cemetery, where Hachiko is buried.
• The National Museum of Nature and Science, where parts of Hachiko's body are preserved.

Part 5

Other Hachiko statues around the world

You can find more Hachiko statues elsewhere in Japan and abroad. A statue at the University of Tokyo, unveiled in 2015, shows Hachiko and Professor Ueno greeting each other rather than Hachiko waiting alone. In Odate, the city where Hachiko was born, a statue stands in front of Odate Station, first built in 1932 and rebuilt in 1987 after wartime metal drives took the original. A separate statue also stands outside the Akita Inu Preservation Society in Odate. Outside Japan, a replica statue was erected in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, tied to the Hollywood film about Hachiko's story.

Part 6

Why the statue became a cultural symbol

Hachiko's decade of waiting made him a national symbol of loyalty in Japan. Every year on the anniversary of his death, a memorial ceremony is held at the statue that draws crowds of visitors. The story has also reached the screen, through the Japanese film Hachiko Monogatari and the Hollywood version, Hachi: A Dog's Tale. The city of Odate once considered borrowing the Shibuya statue during station redevelopment work ahead of the 2020 Olympics. Shops near Shibuya sell Hachiko-themed goods, some of which support Akita dog preservation efforts.