Hachiko

In 1924 Professor Ueno of Tokyo Imperial University takes in an Akita puppy and names him Hachiko. Every evening the dog goes to Shibuya station to meet him. In 1925 the professor dies at work and never comes back. For nine years Hachiko keeps going to the same station at the same time. Seijiro Koyama directs. Tatsuya Nakadai plays the professor. The story is real, and in Japan it is not a legend but a documented case. Hachiko died in 1935, and the statue that stands outside Shibuya station today was erected before his death; the dog attended the unveiling of his own statue. What the film does is refuse to decorate the waiting. Hachiko is not presented as a hero. Years pass, people feed him or chase him off, the war approaches and the dog grows old. The emotional force comes from repetition and from the length of time. It was among the highest grossing domestic films in Japan that year. The same story was remade in America in 2009 as Hachi: A Dog's Tale with Richard Gere and became known worldwide, but this is the version told in the country it happened in. Who it is for: viewers who like animal stories and films looking at prewar Japan. Who it is not for: it is genuinely sad and the last section is long, and the pace is heavy with no dramatic event.