ăăć
Ź
HachikĆ
(Lord 8, but more at âoh look at you, you widdle cutie wootie eight, youâre a good boy, arenât you, yes you are, youâre a good boyâ)
First Time in TĆkyĆ?
Youâre probably gonna go to Shibuya to see the famous intersection in front of the HachikĆ Exit and youâll probably take a picture â or try to â with the statue of the legendary dog for whom the exit is named. This is arguably the most famous meet up spot in Japan, and has a truly enduring image in Japanese pop culture. It comes up in TV and movies, and youâll find casual references in books, news, and everyoneâs travel photos.
Because thereâs a lot of grammatic and semantic side notes, as always, I encourage you to check out all the footnote links to get the whole picture. You can easily jump to a footnote and back to the article, so⊠yeah.
Letâs Look at the Kanji
ăă | Actually, these arenât kanji, theyâre katakana. But they are a reference to ć « hachi, which means âthe number eight.â |
ć
Ź | This kanji usually means public, but in medieval times was used for government officials. |
So Who the Hell was HachikĆ?
Today, heâs usually referred to as ćż çŹăăć Ź ChĆ«ken HachikĆ the Loyal Dog, and in Japan heâs the archetypal embodiment of canine loyalty. This famous dog has been depicted in three movies, three TV shows, two anime, and his actual voice is recorded on a childrenâs record released in 1934. However, his actual name wasnât HachikĆ, it was just Hachi. And if weâre going to be all technical, it should be written as Hachi-kĆ not HachikĆ, because the -kĆ is a suffix. But more about that later.
Hachi was born in ç§ç°ç Akita-ken Akita Prefecture[i] on November 11th, 1923[ii]. Heâs presumed to have been the eighth puppy to pop out of the proverbial oven in the litter[iii], and by early 1924 was sold to a man named äžéè±äžé Ueno HidesaburĆ for 30 yen[iv]. HidesaburĆ was a professor of TĆkyĆ Imperial University and the two lived at his home in former æ±äșŹćžè±ć€æ©éĄæžè°· TĆkyĆ-shi Toyotama-gun Shibuya Machi Shibuya Town, Toyotama District, TĆkyĆ City[v]. Hachi was the professorâs 3rd dog and itâs said that one of the older dogs was particularly interested in helping nurture the young pup[vi]. Hachi, who quickly bonded with HidesaburĆ, took a particular liking to his homeâs çéą genkan entrance. Every morning when the professor walked from his home to æžè°·é§ Shibuya Eki Shibuya Station, he would follow the whole way to see him off. Then, he would wait patiently for HidesaburĆ to come back from work at night and loyally escort him back to their home. Hachi and the professor enjoyed this daily routine, and the locals â knowing that he wasnât a stray or abandoned dog[vii] â got used to seeing him at the station entrance every day, waiting for his master. What can I say? People love dogs.
A Year of Bonding with Manâs Best Friend
Hachi escorted HidesaburĆ to and from the station every day, and spent his afternoons playing with the locals in front of the station. Shop owners would feed the dog scraps until the professor returned to take his beloved puppy home. After a year of this daily routine, something happened on May 21, 1925. After a faculty meeting at TĆkyĆ Imperial University, Ueno HidesaburĆ suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, collapsed, and died. He was only 53. Poor Hachi, who couldnât have known what happened, waited patiently for his master.
According to legend, Hachi didnât eat for about three days in anticipation of his ownerâs return. They also say that all three of HidesaburĆâs dogs waited together at Shibuya Station[viii] on the night of his wake. Hachi passed into the possession of a few different households, but eventually found himself back in Shibuya with a family who let him come and go as he pleased. Naturally, he gravitated towards the station where there were people who knew him and loved him since he was a puppy. By 1927, he was a permanent fixture and when outsiders asked, âwho is this cute dog?â the locals told them âthis dog came here every day to see his master off to work and waited all day for his return.â Soon the story became âheâs still waiting for his master to come home.â
Thatâs the Legend, Hereâs the Truth
Thatâs the story everyone knows today. The thing is, itâs only the Shibuya locals who knew about him. Sure, the shop owners saw him coming and going, but Hachi doesnât appear in the historical record until a 1932 newspaper article introduced the so-called âloyal dogâ to the whole country. The article waxed poetic about the dogâs loyalty â and in Imperial Japan, loyalty stories were hot. However, the article was written by the president of the æ„æŹçŹäżćäŒ Nihonken Honzonkai Association for the Preservation of Japanese Dogs[ix] to bring attention to Hachiâs plight.
Plight?
Though he was cared for by his last master, ć°æèäžé Kobayashi KikusaburĆ, to whose home he returned every night, it seems Hachi was less of a loyal dog waiting for HidesaburĆ and more of a freeloading Party Dogâą. The article said that kids had been teasing the dog in front of the station since HidesaburĆâs days, and many of the locals regarded him as an annoying, filthy stray who begged for food. The truth is, while maybe some Shibuya residents liked him, many did not. However, the article argued for compassion. After all, Hachi was a æ„æŹçŹ Nihonken native Japanese breed and he was âloyalâ â great talking points that worked well in the increasingly militaristic atmosphere of 1930âs Imperial Japan.
This article actually locked down Hachiâs place in history and in our hearts. Sure, he may have been a filthy beggar dog running rampant the streets â friend to some, hated by others â but he metamorphosed into a symbol of canine loyalty and a source of cultural identity to Shibuya, a semi-rural area that was emerging into a distinct neighborhood at that time. In April 1934, a bronze statue of Hachi was placed in front of the stationâs main entrance[x]. Hachi himself attended the unveiling ceremony to much fanfare. His popularity skyrocketed, but what happened next gave Hachi his place in history.
HachikĆ Died
Hachi died in Shibuya on March 8, 1935. The ăăŸăšæ°è Yamato Shinbun Yamato Newspaper ran a national article about the dog, his loyalty, and included a touching photo of HidesaburĆâs wife and a handful of station attendants holding a funeral for Hachi. People donated about 25 funerary wreaths and 200 flower arrangements. Another 180 letters and telegrams also came in. It was a major event for the station and for the neighborhood. Hachi was then enshrined â and finally reunited with â his master at HidesaburĆâs grave in éć±±éć Aoyama Reien Aoyama Cemetery. Thereâs just a small stone pole commemorating Hachi, but make no mistake about it: nobody visits HidesaburĆ. Hachi is Top Dog at this graveyard[xi].
Additionally, HidesaburĆâs former employer, TĆkyĆ Imperial University, took it upon themselves to run an autopsy and taxidermically preserve Hachi, so you can actually go see him â yes, the real him â at the ćœç«ç§ćŠćç©é€š Kokuritsu Kagaku Hakubutsu-kan National Museum of Nature & Science in Ueno Park. The cause of death was determined to be a combination of cancer and heartworms. Poor doggyâŠ
So, Whatâs Up with That Suffix?
Yeah, so I promised to explain the whole ïœć Ź -kĆ part of ăăć Ź Hachi-kĆ and get into why that -kĆ is a suffix and not actually part of the dogâs name. In order to describe this, letâs talk about levels of formality or register in the Japanese Language.
First year Japanese students generally learn about the concepts of ć uchi inside group and ć€ soto outside group. Your friends, family, and social peers are your inside group. Unknown people, elders, and social superiors are your outside group[xii]. Complicating this in-group/out-group dynamic are several levels of formality. Without making this a grammar lesson, Iâm just gonna give you the TLDR version[xiii].
BTW, I lied. The TLDR Version isnât Short
In Modern Japanese, when addressing customers or a head of state, you use honorific language because these people most definitely are in your out-group and using casual language presumes a closeness that could be very off putting to many people[xiv]. Using presumptuous, casual words and phrases in inappropriate situations can be taken as âtalking downâ to someone[xv]. Take for example, the word ăć o-mae you. This is one of the most basic words for âyouâ and is often used by males who are extremely close and among siblings. In this case, the meaning is equal, friendly, honest. A father or teacher might address children with o-mae. In this case, the junior-superior relationship is implied. Guys traditionally referred to their girlfriends or wives as o-mae. In this case, affection is implied, as well as a masculine-feminine power dynamic[xvi]. Pets are often addressed with o-mae because they clearly fall in the junior status, but theyâre also part of the in-group, so this is an example of both meanings. However, if you just refer to a random person on the street as o-mae, you may find yourself in a street fight.
In addition, when addressing and referring to people, the Japanese attach honorific suffixes to names. In a formal situation, you might address or refer to your customer as æžĄèŸșæ§ Watanabe-sama Mr. or Mrs. Watanabe. If you have a good relationship with a Mr./Mrs. Watanabe who isnât in the room, youâd probably use æžĄèŸșăă Watanabe-san, which is essentially the default way to refer to a person. Letâs say this personâs name is æžĄèŸșćœ©ć§« Watanabe Saiki and sheâs younger than you or just a close friend. You could address her as ćœ©ć§« Saiki-chan or ăăăĄăă Sai-chan which is cute. With pets, you wouldnât use -sama or -san except as a joke. Because itâs a pet and clearly the junior in the relationship, a non-Japanese speaker at that, you donât need to attach any honorific suffix to its name. But many people will attach -chan specifically because itâs just cute to refer to your pet like itâs a person or a member of the family.
The kanji for kĆ was used in Pre-Modern Japan when referring to members of the samurai ruling class. You can find it in such terms as ć Źæč kubĆ, a term that changed a little over time, but by the Edo Period was synonymous with shĆgun. The most famous kubĆ is probably the fifth shĆgun ćŸłć·ç¶±ć Tokugawa Tsunayoshi who is referred to as the çŹć Źæč Inu KubĆ Dog ShĆgun because of his edict protecting dogs. When addressing the shĆgun directly, you wouldnât use any words for âyouâ as that would be too direct and a massive breach of protocol[xvii]. You would refer to him as äžæ§ ue-sama your highness. You would use this term when talking about him with others, never using his name (ie; the third person). But when talking about past shĆguns, you could use names. In fact, it would be really difficult to talk about history in general if you didnât use a name, right?
But given all the apprehension hard wired into the Japanese language regarding names, in-groups and out-groups, and taboos about saying âyouâ or directly addressing people, a simple fix evolved over the years. That was -kĆ. If you visit a temple or shrine dedicated to any of the shĆguns, as well as the daimyĆ, youâll find their names written in the Edo Period convention using -kĆ. For example, ćŸłć·ćź¶ćș·ć Ź Tokugawa Ieyasu-kĆ. When translating this title, you have two choices. One, just ignore it because thereâs no equivalent in English and we wouldnât say âMr. Tokugawa Ieyasuâ about an historical personage. Two, translate it as âLord Tokugawa Ieyasuâ which is my preferred modus operandi. In fact, if you look back at my series on the graves of the Tokugawa shĆguns, youâll see thatâs exactly what I did.
So, in short, -kĆ was a suffix that showed deep affection or respect for elite members of the samurai ruling class, in particular, the shĆguns and the daimyĆ. After the collapse of the Tokugawa ShĆgunate in 1868 and the subsequent abolishment of the samurai, life in Imperial Japan underwent fantastic and far reaching changes. The switch from a highly stratified âfeudalâ society to a superficial western-style liberal democracy sent shockwaves through the Japanese language. There were paradigm shifts across the board, but most notably in the concepts of junior-senior relationships. The term o-mae, which I mentioned earlier, was once an honorific term[xviii]. Two other honorific terms for âyou,â æć temae[xix] and èČŽæ§ kisama[xx] also found themselves displaced over the years. In fact, if used inappropriately, these formerly polite words came to be deeply offensive and aggressive. The suffix -kĆ soon found itself falling by the wayside since you could say anything you wanted about the shĆguns â they were gone and there was no fear of repercussion if your etiquette game was weak.
So How Does Hachi Become Hachi-kĆ?
Well, since Iâve already given you all the puzzle pieces, hopefully youâre starting to sort this out in your head. For people with a decent understanding of Japanese it should already be obvious, but I have a lot of readers who donât read/speak Japanese so, letâs wrap this all up now, shall we?
Weâve seen that there are levels of familiarity and politeness in Japanese. Weâve also seen that there is some flexibility to change nuance using these registers in different contexts. Today, a dog named Hachi would probably just be called ăă Hachi or ăăăĄăă Hachi-chan[xxi]. In a ridiculous situation, you might call him ć «æ§ Hachi-sama Honorable Hachi. However, in his own day the suffix -kĆ could be used in the same way as -sama. ăăć Ź Hachi-kĆ Lord Hachi sounds funny and cute because clearly the dog wasnât a daimyĆ or shĆgun. On top of that, as I mentioned before, some old Edo Period honorific usage that was unnecessary in post-Tokugawa Japan shifted into completely opposite meanings. -KĆ also became a suffix that, when used incorrectly, could be deeply offensive. In contrast to the original use as a term of deep reverence or affection, new words began to appear in Japanese like ć ć Ź senkĆ shitty sensei (teacher), ăăȘć Ź porikĆ fucking pig[xxii], and even racial slurs like ăąăĄć Ź amekĆ fucking American.
Hachi and HidesaburĆ really existed. Their story became a legend in the Shibuya Station area. And, despite the legend, it seems that Hachi wasnât liked by all at first, so, sure⊠maybe some people called him Hachi-kĆ as an insult, but I donât think thatâs the case. Itâs good to know all the nuance and the fluidity and flexibility of language that Japanese speakers are mindful of â particularly in Hachiâs time[xxiii]. That said, I like to think the suffix was given because, one, he was a dog (junior-superior relationship); two, he was part of the in-group of those who looked after him at the station; three, itâs just cute to refer to a dog as a feudal lord or a duke[xxiv].
Lastly, there is one more layer to this wildly nuanced story. Stray dogs and cats are generally referred to as éèŻć Ź nora-kĆ lords of the fields/rice paddies. This kĆ includes every nuance included above. Itâs derived from the fact that Japanese people traditionally didnât let pets into the house[xxv] until quite recently. By modern standards, Hachi was someoneâs pet, but he was also kinda left to his own devices â as any dog or cat left outside in his time would have been. This explains why HidesaburĆ would have seen taking Hachi home or leaving him at Shibuya Station as totally normal. The dog could have fun with locals, but could also run around the river area and the agricultural fields in the area. When the dog came home, he wasnât chilling out on the tatami floor doing tea ceremony with humans. He was sleeping at the entrance to the house⊠outside.
And again, this -kĆ runs the gamut of nuance. It also puts Hachiâs life and the life of many pets in Pre-War Japan in a new light. The whole story is a great illustration of cultural and linguistic change over time. Next time youâre in Shibuya, take a minute to look at the statue of the loyal dog and realize how⊠well, realize anything you want to. I just live for how all this stuff comes together, and how messy and complicated it is. Trying to wrap your head around something as simple as a dogâs name can be so difficult, yet exploring it can be an edifying roller coaster ride.
I hope yâall had as much fun as I did with this one.
Love ya, mean it!
[i] He was actually a local breed called an ç§ç°çŹ Akita Inu Akita Dog.
[ii] The records are good. We even know the name of his father and mother â 性ćć
Ćshinai and èĄéș» Goma, respectively.
[iii] This is not at all unusual â even in the traditional naming of humans. Boys were often given names like äžé IchirĆ first born son, äž Hajime first; äșé JirĆ or æŹĄé JirĆ second son and next son, respectively; äžé SaburĆ third born son, etc.
[iv] Which, if my math isnât correct â which it could be â would be about 10,000 yen today ($100).
[v] Shibuya was pretty undeveloped at this time, except for the station area.
[vi] The other two dogs were ăžă§ăł Jon and ăšăč S. Jon, a pointer, was the one who helped raise Hachi.
[vii] More about this laterâŠ
[viii] Iâd like to point out, this story seems bullshit AF. Thereâs no account of Jon and S ever accompanying the professor to Shibuya Station, so it would be weird that they would go during a wake. Oh, and by the way, at a traditional Japanese wake of this time, HidesaburĆâs body would have lain in state at his home. If the dogs, or Hachi in particular, were so loyal, theyâd probably recognize the corpse of their master.
[ix] This organization still exists today.
[x] During WWII, the original statue was melted down for the war effort. The current statue was erected in 1948 and was created by the son of the original sculptor.
[xi] Sorry, Iâm groaning too. That was so bad. Sorry.
[xii] Interestingly, some women, particularly 30 and over, may often use polite Japanese with their husbands or when flirting because itâs seen as more feminine, playing up the traditional view of men and women occupying superior and junior positions in society.
[xiii] If you want to read about Japanese Grammar, hereâs a link.
[xiv] This is called 銎ă銎ăăă narenareshii which means âtoo closeâ and carries the nuance of âpresumptuous.â
[xv] Interestingly, when people are in the same inside group or in a junior-senior relationship, often the angry party will revert to polite language â usually not too honorific, but just basic polite forms â when âdressing downâ the offending party. A boss in a traditional Japanese company isnât expected to use polite language to his subordinates. However, when he is angry at his workers, the boss or CEO may chew out an employee in polite language â a very scary situation because of the shocking role reversal. Furthermore, angry wives often chastise their husbands in polite language â another terrifying situation.
[xvi] Recently, this has changed and a lot of girls from thirty and below, use o-mae with their close friends, boyfriends, or husbands. This seems to be a byproduct of a flattening of Japanese society, particularly in regard to gender equality. Itâs also fed by otaku culture which has led to many women taking on traditionally male vocabulary these days.
[xvii] Using names is still often preferable to directly referring to a person as âyou.â An example: æšæ„ăŻă©ăă«èĄăŁăăăKinĆ kurabu ni itta yo. Last night I went clubbing. ăïŒăăăĄăăăïŒ E? Sai-chan ga? Wow, Sai-chan went? Sai-chan being a girlâs nickname, the sentence is weird in English and would be better translated as âWow, you did?â
[xviii] It literally means âthe honorable (person) in front (of me)â and was a way to avoid directly addressing a person.
[xix] Also, a way to avoid a person, it just means â(the person) right in front of meâ and is now only used in fights.
[xx] The word literally means âyour noble highnessâ and was a way to address a daimyĆ or high ranking aristocrat, but today is word used in manga and anime for fights. In modern usage, I donât think people use this word in conversation. Itâs just for otaku media.
[xxi] More likely ăŻăŁăĄăă Hacchan because itâs less wieldy, less formal, and just sounds cuter.
[xxii] In the meaning of police officer, the term is literally âpoli(ce)â + âkĆ.â But just for your information, these terms are rarely used today. Old timers who remember WWII or the pre-Bubble Era will recognize the American slur, but most people under 30 probably wouldnât recognize it. The word has vanished. The police slur is only known from ooooold yakuza movies and isnât used anymore. The âbad teacherâ term is well understood, but it has also died out. I most -kĆ words have all become æ»èȘ shigo obsolete terms.
[xxiii] A fluidity and flexibility still present in modern usage.
[xxiv] And keep in mind, this was before WWII. The former court families from KyĆto and the former daimyĆ families were all given western style ranks under the peerage system, ie; they had barons, counts, and all kind of stupid aristocratic ranks. The title ć
Źç” kĆshaku duke (yes, same kĆ) was a term youâd encounter frequently.
[xxv] This is a subject for another time, but fascinating.
Awesome…. and mind bending, as always. Thanks đ ps. My dog is called Loki, but…. since I only speak to him in Japanese he has become ăšăăă đ¶ it really suits him, he is a good boy. Lol.
Great article! I only knew the ‘official’ story, about the loyal dog waiting at the station for his dead master every day until he died- of course you dug deeper as always-
Thanks as always for a great read.
Thanks for the kind words and glad you liked the article!
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A very informative and well written article. Entertaining too! The equivalent story of Balto, the sled dog who brought the diphtheria vaccine to Nome in the 1920s; an event commemorated by the Iditarod sled race. Balto’s body was also also preserved by a taxidermist (it’s at the Chicago Museum of Natural History) and he has a statue in Central Park. Well done and mahalo.
Jack from Hawaii
Interesting! I didnât know about those stories. Itâs funny that taxidermy is fine for animals but not for humans.
Imagine a stuffed Abraham Lincoln in the Smithsonian đ
Good afternoon, could you tell us in more detail about the life of Hachiko and Professor Hidasaburo Ueno? Tell me how they lived? What was their relationship like? How much did Hidasaburo love Hachiko?