Hachiko Monogatari

Today, I'll like to share a little about Hachiko. The name I've chosen for my blog (see title above) translated means The Story of Hachiko. The truth is, Hachiko is not a person, as most native Japanese will tell you, but a dog (more accurately, an Akita inu).

My first encounter with Hachiko was back in 1990 when I saw the movie (in Japanese with English subtitles) on TV. It brought tears to my eyes and left a deep impression in my heart. Then I caught a second TV screening of the same movie a few years later (by accident) and again it moved me to tears. Fast forward to the year 2004; a new colleague of mine introduced me to the masterpiece of Japanese Anime, Spirited Away, by Hayao Miyazaki.

Somehow, that brought back memories of Hachiko and I started a search for the movie (at local video stores and on the internet) which lasted almost two months. You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to find that movie (made in the year 1987) considering it was a classic in Japanese culture and heritage.

I was on the verge of giving up when finally, I found it on an online Japanese media store (in one of their undisclosed web pages). It was in VHS (mono, without English subtitles) and cost me 2,980 yen. I had it converted to VCD, which cost me another 22 bucks, but I felt all the troubles and expenses that I've been through were worth every bit.

And you know what? After watching the same movie for the third and subsequently, fourth time, I found myself still unable to control my tears from falling. After all these years, the story of Hachiko still touches the soft spots in my heart (and I suppose it always will be).

Well, maybe I'll let you in on the details of the story on my next blog.

Till then...wuff-wuff!