Weird Island

23. MINI EPISODE: Woonsocket’s Hachikō Statue

Episode Summary

Have you heard the story of Hachikō, Japan’s most loyal dog? Find out why there’s a statue of Hachikō hidden in Woonsocket, RI. To Visit: 1 Depot Square, Woonsocket, RI 02895

Episode Notes

Have you heard the story of Hachiko, Japan’s most loyal dog? Find out why there’s a statue of Hachiko hidden in Woonsocket, RI.  

To Visit: 1 Depot Square, Woonsocket, RI 02895

Episode Source Material:

• Akita (dog)
• History of the Akita Breed - The Akita Breed
• Akita History: Hachikō & the Revival of the Devoted Japanese Breed – American Kennel Club
• 15 thoughts on “What does Hachiko mean?”
• Hachikō
• Hidesaburō Ueno
• Hachi: A Dog's Tale
• Around New England: Woonsocket's Railroad Station's Deserved, but Short-Lived Stardom - Design New England
• Hachiko - A Dog's Loyalty
• 10 things you didn't know about Hachiko, Japan's most loyal dog 3 days ago
• Hachiko Breed Information: History, Health, Pictures, and more

Episode Transcription

• Hi, I’m Sara. And you’re listening to Weird Island. Each week, I’ll be telling you about the strangest stories I can dig up from my tiny, little state of Rhode Island. I’m here this week to push an agenda. Here it is. My goal is to convince you that Woonsocket is day-trip worthy. I know it’s probably not the first place that comes to mind. Your Rhode Island day trip list is more likely to include Newport, or Block Island, or Bristol. And I don’t blame you. I worked in Woonsocket for three years, and I went in and out, never really seeing much of a reason to spend time there. Many Rhode Islanders see it as a run down old mill town with a higher than average crime rate, and think the only reason to go there is for the headquarters of CVS. 
• But, if you really want a unique day trip, not the same one everyone else is experiencing, I’m telling you--Woonsocket should be on your list, because there are some quirky, little hidden gems in that city. My plan is to bring you three weeks of Woonsocket. Each place and each story is weird and wonderful and they’re all really different from one another, so it won’t get boring! And in three weeks, you’ll be armed with the knowledge you need to plan your Woonsocket day trip. 
• And I’m playing dirty by starting my Woonsocket stories with one about a dog. Because who can resist stories about dogs?
• This story doesn’t start in Woonsocket. It starts in Japan—on a farm in Akita Prefecture, in November of 1923, with a litter of little Akita puppies. There were perhaps eight puppies in the litter, because the one we’ll be talking about, his name was Eight – or Hachi, in Japanese--or it’s possible that he was just named Eight because it was a lucky number. But either way, he was adopted by a man named Hidesaburo Ueno, who lived in Shibuya Prefecture, but worked in Tokyo as a professor of agriculture at Tokyo Imperial University.
• Hachi was a white Akita Inu--a type of dog from the mountainous regions of northern Japan. Akitas were initially bred to hunt elk, while boar and bears, and were prized for their fearlessness and loyalty. In the middle ages, Samurai soldiers used Akitas to guard their people and property, and only royalty could own them. In this role, Akitas were prized for being strong-willed, independent and self-directed, because they were expected to do more than simply retrieve - they had to think for themselves. But in 1923, when Hachi was born, the previously royal Akita was a disappearing breed. A fascination with dogfighting resulted in Akitas being cross-bred with European breeds, like German Shepherds, to produce larger and larger dogs. This diluted the distinctive breed, and purebred Akitas were difficult to come by. But they could be identified as being smaller, white, red or brindle in color, and they had small, upright triangular ears and fox-like eyes. Little, snow white Hachi met almost all of these qualifications, except that he had one ear that sometimes dropped--which, today, would disqualify him from the American Kennel Clubs Akita standard. 
• Hachi and Ueno formed an immediate bond. Each morning, the professor would walk from his home to Shibuya Station, and Hachi would walk with him and see him safely onto the train. During the day, locals would see him waiting at the station or walking around town, begging for treats. They’d pet him or play with him, or more likely, shoo him away. Then, at the end of the day, Hachi would be there, waiting when the train arrived, ready to walk the professor home. 
• This happened every day for a year or so, until May 1, 1925. That morning, Hachi and Ueno walked to the train, as usual. But when the day ended, Ueno didn’t get off the train. Hachi waited and waited, but the professor never arrived. What Hachi didn’t know was that earlier that day, while giving a lecture, Ueno had collapsed on the floor. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at just 53 years old and died. Ueno would never be stepping off that train again. 
• But the next day, poor Hachi went back to the train station and waited hopefully. He continued to do this every day for nine years, nine months and fifteen days, until March 8, 1935 when he himself passed away. 
• For many of these years, locals may have recognized Hachi, but his story wasn’t well known. This changed in 1932, when his story essentially went viral. Hirokichi Saito, who had previously been a student of Ueno’s and would later become chairman of the Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog heard Hachi’s story and published an article about it. The story captured widespread attention, and Hachi became a symbol of loyalty and devotion. Around this time, Hachi’s name was updated with a suffix - to be Hachiko, which might be the name you’re more familiar with if you’ve heard this story before. Ko is a suffix that shows deep affection and respect, and while there isn’t a great English equivalent, it sort of updates his name to be more similar to Lord Eight or Sir Eight. 
• A year before Hachi’s death, he was honored by the people of Shibuya. A bronze statue of the loyal dog was placed in front of the station’s main entrance, and Hachiko even attended the ceremony! A year later, Hachiko died, and national newspapers reported his death, including a photo of his funeral. It was a major event for the whole neighborhood, and people had donated 25 funerary wreaths and 200 flower arrangements out of love for the dog. Hachiko was cremated and buried beside Ueno, and his fur was actually preserved and taxidermied and can be seen at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo.
• During WWII, the statue of Hachiko had to be melted down and recycled for the war effort. Some rumors claim the metal was used to produce parts for a train, but that seems too fitting. After the war, a Society for Recreating the Hachiko Statue was formed, and the group recruited the original sculptor’s son to recreate the statue, which was unveiled in 1948 and still stands. Today, the bronze statue of Hachiko is one of the most famous meet up spots in Japan. If you’re meeting up with a friend to head into Tokyo, you might say--Meet me at the Hachiko statue! And they’d know just where to find you.
• But it isn’t the only statue of Hachiko that exists. There is another one, in front of the train station in Hachiko’s birthplace. And a third statue is in front of the Akita Dog Museum, also in his birthplace of Odate. And then there’s a fourth statue - and this one is in front of the former Woonsocket, Rhode Island train station. 
• This statue was actually not on my radar as a possible episode topic at all, until one day I was listening to the Atlas Obscura podcast episode about the Shibuya statue, and at the very end, they mentioned that there was also a copy in Woonsocket. I really can’t convey the level of surprise I felt, other than saying Woonsocket was the very last place I expected.
• But it turns out that the 2009 American movie adaptation of Hachiko’s story--called Hachi: A Dog’s Tale--was shot almost entirely in Woonsocket, and it featured Hachi waiting each day at the Woonsocket Train Station. I hadn’t seen the movie until recently, so my first thought was, Woonsocket doesn’t look anything like Japan! But that’s okay, because for some reason the director chose to set the American version of the story in Rhode Island instead. In the movie, Richard Gere plays the professor, who works in Providence and commutes to and from the fictional town of Bedridge. Three dogs--Layla, Chico, and Forrest--played Hachi in the film. 
• In 2012, to recognize the station’s role in the film, the Japanese Consulate in the United States helped the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council and the city of Woonsocket unveil an identical statue to the one found in Shibuya. So, if you’re meeting up with a friend for your Woonsocket Day Trip, you can tell them to meet you at the Hachiko statue.
• And that’s where I’ll leave you. It’s kind of fitting that this story brings us to the railroad station, because it sets us up perfectly for next week’s episode. We’ll go back a few years before Hachi’s story to when this train station was filled with French-Canadian immigrants who would shape Woonsocket’s culture and establish the spot I’ll be talking about next week. 
• Thanks for listening! As always, all episodes are researched and written by me, Sara Corben, and all of the source material is linked in the show notes! If you liked this episode, tune back in next week for more hidden treasures from Woonsocket. But before I let you go, I learned some fascinating facts about Akitas that really didn’t fit within the episode, and I wanted to share one. Did you know that the first Akitas brought to the United States belonged to Helen Keller--who became infatuated with the breed when she went to Japan and heard the story of Hachiko? I thought this was too interesting not to share! So there you go!

If you have some weird facts about Rhode Island or whatever you’re interested in, I’d love to hear them! You can email me or send me a recorded voice memo at weird rhode island @ gmail.com. See you next week as we dig up more stories about all things weird and wonderful in the little state of Rhode Island. Until next time!