Episode 551 – Dog Days, Part 3

This week, we conclude our look at canine history in Japan with the nation’s most famous dog: Hachiko. You might know the story, but you probably don’t know how tied up it is in the establishment of Japan’s first dog breeding programs, or in the militarist rhetoric of the war years.

 

Sources

Skabelund, Aaron. Empire of Dogs: Canines, Japan, and the Making of the Modern Imperial World.

Images

One of the more famous photos of Hachiko, from 1934. Note both the commemorative collar and droopy ear.
Hachiko’s body in the Ueno Science Museum. Note the “corrected” ear.
An anniversary celebration of Hachiko on March 8, 1936 (one year after his death). This shows the original Shibuya station Hachiko statue, which was melted for scrap in 1944.
Hachiko at Shibuya station in 1933.
The grave of Ueno Hidesaburo and Hachiko at Aoyama Cemetery.
The modern Hachiko statue at Shibuya station.