Hachiko, Argentina: the celebrations for the national team reached the statue of the dog “Always by your side”

The triumph of the Argentine national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar touched on one of the most curious points in Japan: the statue in homage to the dog Hachiko.

Among the many photos circulated on Twitter of the celebrations for the third World Cup of the “Scaloneta” appears that of the statue of “Hachi” with the Argentine flag wrapped around it. Another of the many curiosities of the coronation of Leo Messi and company.

In another image, for example, we see the statue with the albiceleste shirt and a flag hanging from the pedestal.

The Twitter user who shared one of the viral photos, @nikinloveclarified, “Disclaimer why people like to hate: 1. There were Japanese people there with us, enjoying this. 2. It’s just a flag tied. You untie it and walk away. No crap, no hurting Hachiko. Just appreciation and community.”

Who is Hachiko?

if you saw Always by your sidethat exciting movie with Richard Gere about the relationship between a dog and its master, you surely know who we’re talking about.

Hachiko was a Japanese Akita dog whose owner was the professor Hidesaburo Ueno. He is known to the locals as Chūken Hachikō (Loyal Dog Hachiko) due to his incredible loyalty. He lived from 1923 to 1935.

The peculiarity of their relationship is that for years “Hachi” accompanied his master to Shibuya station and when he died of a brain hemorrhage he continued to do this for another 9 years.

Those who knew the dog and knew that it was eternally waiting for a man who would never return were the ones who fed it to death.

his early years

Hachiko was born in Odate. He was found by chance in a box by Professor Ueno, who belonged to the Tokyo University Department of Agriculture.

At first the professor didn’t want to adopt him because the recent death of one of his pets brought back bad memories. But his teenage daughter convinced him.

When the young woman got married and moved away, the professor considered giving Hachi away, which he wouldn’t do due to the love he had for his pet.

inseparable

The dog accompanied the teacher to Shibuya Station every morning to say hello before going to work. At the end of each day, Hachiko returned to receive him.

That routine continued until May 21, 1925. The professor suffered a brain hemorrhage while teaching at the university and never returned. Since then, and for another 9 years, the dog waited for him in front of the Shibuya train station, where he settled and lived until his death.

The statue that now appears with the flags of Argentina was erected in his honor in April 1934.

The emotional story has been made into a film twice, once in 1987 in the Japanese film Hachiko Monogatariand another in 2009, in the remembered American version Always by your side.