Tokyo Shibuya’s Iconic Dog Hachiko Celebrated 100 Years After Birth; Former PM Suga Attends Event

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:41 JST, December 2, 2023

An event was held Saturday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hachiko, of which there is an iconic statue at Tokyo’s Shibuya Station.

The famously loyal Akita dog continued to wait for his owner at Shibuya Station years after his owner’s death.

Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attended the opening ceremony of the event and gave a speech, saying, “The popularity of Akita dogs is spreading all over the world.”

Suga, a native of Akita Prefecture, said that when he went to Tokyo for the first time at the age of 18, he visited the Hachiko statue. He also once donated an Akita dog to a foreign leader who had expressed the desire to own one.

“The statue is now a top international tourist attraction in Japan,” he added.

After the ceremony, the approximately 40 Akita dogs who were in attendance went for a walk around downtown Shibuya.