Happy Birthday, Hachiko
Today is the 100th birthday of Hachiko the loyal dog, or “chūken Hachiko” in Japanese. The bronze statue of Hachiko outside the west gate of JR Shibuya Station is the most famous Hachiko site, and I suspect there may have been an unusually busy bustle of tourists and fans crowding around and taking pictures. But I decided to visit Hachiko’s grave in Aoyama Cemetery instead. Aoyama Cemetery is quite large. It attracts many visitors because it’s the resting place of many notable people, because it features a broad, straight avenue of cherry blossom trees, and because it has a significant section of foreigners’ graves - missionaries, engineers, doctors, etc. who came to Japan in the early modern period of the 19th century, and who participated in Japan’s rapid modernization.
I know where Hachiko’s grave is, so it's easy to find. Hachiko rests next to his master, Tokyo University Agriculture Professor Hidesaburo Ueno. I took flowers and treats for the dog. I wasn’t the only one. While I was there, I was the only visitor, but others had clearly been there before me. And, after walking around the grounds taking pictures for more than an hour, I revisited the grave before heading home and saw that others had visited it after I had.