Hachiko’s Last Vigil: The Last Picture of Shibuya’s Loyal Friend (Colorized, 1935)

People often say that a dog is their best friend. These days, it’s hard to believe those words when your loyal dog drags your dirty pants and underwear into the living room for all your guests to see (true story). But in Japan, one dog showed how loyal he was by waiting for his master every day in the same spot for 10 years after his master died. We’ve never seen anything so sad as the picture above, which is the last one of this cute animal ever taken.

One of the professors at the University of Tokyo had an Akita dog named Hachiko. He would meet his teacher every day at Shibuya Station until 1925, when the teacher never came back. Hachiko had no idea that his master had died of a brain bleed and would never come home again. But Hachiko sat there day after day, hoping his beloved master would come back, but he never did. Many people went to Shibuya Station to give Hachiko treats after hearing about the dog that never gave up. The story got a lot of attention from both local and national news outlets. It finally got around the world, and Hachiko’s story was even turned into a Hollywood movie with Richard Gere.

The picture above was taken on March 8, 1935. It is the last picture that anyone knows of Hachiko. She was found dead on a Shibuya street. The wife of his owner and the station staff are sitting around his body, sad about his death.

A figure was later built to honor Hachiko, and a copy of the original can still be seen near Shibuya Station. Hachiko’s statue is still a reminder of how loyal this dog is and how far someone will go to stay true to a friend, even though it is now a popular place for young people to hang out with their friends. Hachiko was able to inspire people all over the world, and his last picture shows how much he was loved.