Hachiko

If you ever had a dog you would know the joy they would feel the minute you came home. As soon as they hear you enter the the door;  you see your dogs wagging his, getting on their hind legs to greet you home with licks to the face. This is how I am greeted the second I get home. But instead of one dog I have three dogs begging for my attention.  Bieng greeted by my dogs gives me a sense of home. If you had not guessed it yet, I am a dog person through and through. My love for dogs stems from their ever love, affection and loyalty. One of the best know dogs know to be loyal was Hachiko.

Hachiko was born in a farm near the city of Odate, Akita Prefecture and was the eighth of his litter. The word ‘hachi" means eight and “ko” means for “prince or duke”. Thus the name Hachiko. However in Japanese Hachiko is known” Chuiken Hachiko” which means “faithful dog Hachiko.” He has been known for his amazing loyalty to his owner even after many years  after his owner death. 

Man’s Best friend

Hachiko was adopted by Hidesaburo Ueno who was a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. Everyday Hachiko would greet his owner at the Shibuya Station. They had this amazing bond between pet and master. This was truly an example of man’s best friend. On May of 1925 Professor Ueno did not arrive to the station that day, nor the next.  Hachikos master had died from a cerebral hemorrhage.  He never returned to the station and everyday for the past nine years Hachiko kept on waiting for the day his  master will return at the Shibuya station.

People who had seen the two together every day would bring him snack and treats while he kept waiting on his master that would never come. But everyday precisely when the train would arrive he would be there waiting.  He did this for 11 years until finally on March 8,1935  Hachiko had passed away.

Hachiko a National Symbol

The Hachiko’s faithfulness was a national sensation this had impresses the people of Japan as the spirit of family loyalty that people should strive for. In Japan Hachiko has become a symbol of loyalty. On April 1934 they build a bronze statue in the Shibuya station symbolizing Hachiko’s loyalty. Now these days its serves as a remembrance and its used today as a famous place for people to meet up in Tokyo symbolizing commitment and love of the people who meet there. Each year on April 8 people gather around the Shibuya Station for a solemn ceremony in remembrance of Hachiko

In an America the national symbol is the Bald Eagle. Maude M. Grants said “Thus the Eagle full of the boundless spirit of freedom, living above the valleys, strong and powerful in his might, as become the national emblem of a country that offers freedom in word and though and an opportunity for a full and free expansion in the boundless space of the future.” But he himself had said that in the beginning battle of the Revolution which has begun in the morning the bald eagles would fly from the nest and circled around the heads of the fighting men and screeching at them. The patriots took this at “They are shrieking for freedom.” Nevertheless I believe the eagle was not “shrieking for freedom”  but fir  he being woken up in the early morning which would be enough reason to want to scratch anyone’s eyes out.

Although the Bald Eagle became the national symbol of America is has been met with controversy. According to Benjamin he wrote, “I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on the some dead tree, where , too lazy to fish himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk and when the diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle purses him and take it from him...” He goes on to write about how the bald eagle is a rank coward and how even a bird the size of a sparrow attack him boldly and drives the eagle out He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. He even goes as far to write about how a Turkey would be more of a respectable bird compare to the bald eagle.

Although some readers may object that the bald eagle is not unsuitatble symbol I believe I would rather put trust on a dog than an eagle. I would have to agree with Benjamin Franking about the bald eagle not being the best symbol for America.