dogs hold such a special distinction, and  one of the best examples of this is Hachiko.  

His story will certainly make you tear up!

As many of you may know, Hachiko is one of  the most famous dogs in history. It was an  

Akita dog born in 1923 in a farm near Odate, in  northern Japan. There he was adopted by professor  

Hidesaburo Ueno, convinced by his daughter. He  gave classes at the agriculture department of  

Tokyo University, so Hachiko's new home would be  in the city. To get there, Hachiko had to travel  

for two entire days inside a small box, so when  he was let out, he was in terrible conditions.

The professor took care of him, and  Hachiko had an excellent recovery.  

The professor named the dog Hachiko because  he saw his front legs were a bit shunted,  

and they reminded him of the  kanji for "hachi", which means  

"eight" in Japanese. Moreover, some say that  Hachiko was the eighth pup of his litter.

Little by little they got used to each  other, and eventually became inseparable.  

Every day Hachiko would join Hidesaburo at  the station where he took the train to get  

to work. When the professor's shift  ended, and he got out of the train,  

Hachiko was there waiting for him  so they could go back home together.

Hachiko never missed a day of meeting Hidesaburo,  so other passengers, and even employees of the  

station, became very fond of the dog. However,  approximately one year later, in May 1925,  

professor Hidesaburo suffered a cerebral  (seríbrol) infarction, and died. And just  

like always, Hachiko waited for him at the  train station… but his friend never arrived.

Instead of losing hope, Hachiko spent the entire  night at the station… and he kept waiting in  

the station for the next 10 years. The station  became his home, while he waited for his owner  

to come off one of the trains. The people who had  seen Hachiko join the professor and welcome him  

every day decided to take care of him,  and feed him during all those years.

Japanese newspapers spread the news, and people  ended up naming him Chūken Hachiko, which means  

"the loyal dog Hachiko". But the homages didn't  end there: In April 1934, a bronze statue in his  

honor was erected near the station, and Hachiko  himself was able to attend its inauguration.

A year later Hachiko was found dead,  

and to symbolize that he and his owner would  finally rest together for all eternity,  

a nameplate in his honor was placed next to  the professor's grave at the Aoyama cemetery.

Later on, the Japanese government took  Hachiko's statue and melted it to help  

build weapons for World War II. Fortunately,  in 1947, a new Hachiko statue was erected,  

which still exists today. To this day, it is a  very frequented spot both by locals and tourists.  

Hachiko became a symbol in all of Japan,  and he is commemorated every 8th of March .

This endearing story also attracted the attention  of the movie industry. In 1987 the Japanese movie  

"Hachiko Monogatari" premiered, directed by  Seijirô Kôyama, and in 2009 the American remake  

premiered, "Hachi: A Dog's Tale", directed by  Lasse Hallström, and starring Richard Gere.  

Moreover, Hachiko is also remembered in  different TV shows, video games, and books.

As you can see, this is a sad  but also a very lovely story,  

and it's just one example of how much animals  can do for us. Do you have pets, tiktakers?  

If so, why don't you pay homage (omásh) to them  here in the comments? Come on, don't be shy!