Hachiko, the Faithful Dog
Hachiko, the Faithful Dog
In 1934, a bronze statue of a dog called Hachiko was erected at the Shibuya Train station in Tokyo, Japan. This is the story of that dog.
Hachiko was born in 1923 and was owned by Eisaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. The professor used to take a train from the Shibuya Station every day to go to the university. Each day Hachiko accompanied the professor to the train station when he left for work. Upon returning, the professor would find the dog patiently waiting for his master and wagging its tail. This happy routine continued until one fateful day in 1925, when the professor was taken ill on the job and unfortunately died before he could return home. As usual, the dog waited at the train station that day for his master to return back. However, seeing that he was not coming back, Hachiko waited till night fell and returned back home. The next day Hachiko went back to the train station again, waiting for his master to come back. He patiently waited till sunset and then returned back home. The dog was so devoted to the professor that he continued to visit the train station every day for the next 10 years! The people who passed the loyal dog each day were so touched by his story that they erected a statue in his honour in 1934.
In 1935, Hachiko died at the very same spot where he used to wait for his master.
We should take a lesson from this story for ourselves. By reciting the word of oneness of Allah, all of us have taken an oath to be loyal to our Master, Almighty Allah. Now, we should look deep into ourselves and check to see how much love we really have for God in our hearts.
