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Committing to Showing Up:
ハチ公 Hachiko the Dog

Hachikō was a dog who lived in Tokyo, Japan from 1924 to 1935. “Hachi” became famous in Japan, and all over the world, for the devotion he showed to his owner. As a very young dog, Hachi would wait at the train station for his owner to get home from work, and they would walk home together. But suddenly, Hachi’s owner died at work, and his owner never got off the train again. For the next nine years, Hachi went to the train station every day, waiting for his loved one whom he would never again see. This is a special kind of commitment. When we commit ourselves to our loved ones, we show up for them. That showing up becomes our practice, the container that holds our commitment to the very idea of love itself.

For this month’s At the Bedside, you can read the details of Hachikō’s story here, on Wikipedia; the three, consecutive sections titled “Life,” “Publication,” and “Death” tell a complete story.

Or you can check your library for the book, Hachiko Waits: A True Story. You can buy this book used for $5-10. Something special about this particular book is that it takes great care with the cultural context of Hachiko’s story, artfully and respectfully showing Japanese life in the 1920s. And, the illustrator, Machiyo Kodaira, is herself a native of Tokyo. The version linked here is a chapter book, which you can enjoy over several evenings of reading, or as a Zoom read-aloud if you’re doing the At the Bedtime story with friends or family members who aren’t in the same household.

If you look up the book on Amazon, you can listen to the first half of chapter 2 of the audiobook by clicking on the “Listen” link beneath the cover; if you do not speak Japanese, this recording gives a good sense of some of the pronunciation.

For Discussion:

● Do you think Hachi knew that his owner would never come home again? If he had known, do you think it would have mattered to him?

● When you arrive somewhere, and find someone you love waiting for you, how do you feel?

● We might say that Hachi was committed to his owner, in the sense that he was devoted and loyal to him. What is an idea that you are committed to–devoted to, and loyal to–even if you’re not certain it will ever come to be?

Note: If you haven’t yet seen the 2018 Wes Anderson movie, Isle of Dogs (or, if you’d enjoy seeing it again), you will find at least one–and possibly more–references to the Hachiko story in that film!