37 pages • 1-hour read
Hachiko Waits
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Themes
The Reciprocation of Loyalty
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and animal death.
Through the story of Hachiko’s enduring devotion to Professor Ueno, the novel not only celebrates loyalty but suggests that it has a ripple effect. Not only can mutual devotion bind two people (or one person and one dog) together, but even “unrequited” displays of loyalty can have a profound influence, inspiring similar actions in those who observe them and ensuring that loyalty never truly goes unrecognized.
In the six months before Professor Ueno’s death, he and Hachiko are devoted to each other. The Professor takes excellent care of his dog, maintaining a strict schedule of feeding and training Hachiko while praising him every day. As a result, Hachiko is extremely loyal to his master. He walks to the train station to wait for the Professor every day without fail and refuses even to approach anyone else who calls him. After the Professor dies, Hachiko continues to wait at the station every day for the rest of his life, unflagging in his commitment to a master who (through no fault of his own) never returns.
Hachiko’s loyalty quickly generates admiration. Partly out of preexisting love for both Hachiko and the Professor, Yasuo begins to look after Hachiko when the Professor passes away, and he pledges to remain devoted to the dog for life. Yet Yasuo’s love for Hachiko also strengthens as he witnesses the dog’s devotion to the Professor. Yasuo respects this trait in Hachiko and believes that Hachiko deserves to be treated with the same dedication. Yasuo’s care becomes Hachiko’s reward for his own loyalty to his master.
Just as Hachiko is rewarded for his devotion to the Professor, Yasuo is repaid for his kindness to the dog. One day, Yasuo turns down an opportunity to play with his friends, choosing to meet Hachiko at the station instead. Mr. Yoshikawa tells Yasuo, “Hachiko is a very loyal dog. You have treated him well. And I would be surprised if such a good deed went unrewarded” (66-67). Yasuo laughs at first, not understanding how a dog could ever repay him. However, many years later, Yasuo is rewarded when he meets his future wife—Miyaki—by a statue erected in Hachiko’s honor. Hachiko has passed away at this point, but the story suggests that Hachiko is spiritually involved in Yasuo and Miyaki’s connection.
Yasuo is not the only one whom Hachiko’s loyalty inspires. Regular passengers in Shibuya Station come to recognize the dog, and eventually he becomes famous all around Japan. People are so impressed that they travel to Shibuya just to touch Hachiko in hopes of gleaning some of his virtue; others donate money to Mr. Yoshikawa to help feed and shelter Hachiko. After Hachiko passes away, the public contributes money to build a statue of the dog—the same statue where Yasuo meets Miyaki. Thus, the surrounding community rewards both Hachiko and Yasuo for their devotion while emulating it in some measure. Ultimately, the stories of Professor Ueno, Hachiko, and Yasuo demonstrate that unwavering loyalty is always rewarded—be it through companionship, protection, or respect.
Love and Grief as Unifying Forces
Hachiko Waits represents love and grief as intertwined forces that not only shape individual lives but also strengthen friendships and community. In this way the book tempers its depiction of loss, suggesting that it can furnish an opportunity for new bonds.
As the novel’s central symbol of love, Hachiko is key to this theme’s development. Hachiko loves Professor Ueno, and after the Professor’s unexpected death, Hachiko misses him greatly. However, Yasuo shares in the dog’s pain, and this shared grief strengthens the bond between Yasuo and Hachiko. The day after the Professor passes away, Yasuo tells Hachiko that he, too, misses the Professor: “Yasuo spoke to the dog a little while longer, then fell silent and sat quietly beside him, hoping his presence would bring the dog comfort” (46). Hachiko never really recovers from his grief, but Yasuo’s commiseration does create a new kind of connection between them: Hachiko eventually starts to accept food from Yasuo, which he used to refuse.
Mr. Yoshikawa also bonds with both Hachiko and Yasuo as a consequence of the Professor’s death, partly because the dog spends much of his time in the train station where Mr. Yoshikawa works but also because they both liked and admired the Professor. Yasuo and Mr. Yoshikawa become close friends after years of looking after Hachiko together, and when Hachiko eventually passes away, their shared grief once again fortifies their relationship. On the day of Hachiko’s death, Mr. Yoshikawa brings Yasuo into his office so the two can grieve privately. There, he tells Yasuo that he believes Hachiko and the Professor will reunite in heaven, which lifts Yasuo’s spirits. Even a simple acknowledgment of what they both feel proves healing: “Mr. Yoshikawa smiled too and brushed away a tear. ‘I will miss him very much.’ Yasuo nodded and wiped his wet cheeks. ‘So will I.’” (73). The two friends bring each other comfort during this challenging time while mutually respecting and honoring one another’s dedication to both Hachiko and the Professor.
As Hachiko is well-known by the time of his death, the public also grieves his loss. Shibuya Station holds a ceremony to unveil the statue made in Hachiko’s honor, and the event allows the entire community to unite in shared sorrow. The crowd that gathers at the station to celebrate Hachiko also makes Yasuo feel supported and eases his pain. The story’s depiction of love and loss thus illustrates how sharing these intense emotions with others can deepen relationships and enrich community ties.
The Creation of Cultural Legacy
Hachiko Waits illustrates how individuals and their actions can transcend personal experience to become symbols of a community’s cultural identity. Hachiko’s relationship with Professor Ueno begins as an intimate individual bond. However, over time, more and more people begin to recognize Hachiko, and his daily presence on the train station platform becomes a public symbol of dedication that resonates far beyond his relationship with his master while simultaneously preserving the Professor’s memory—and, ultimately, Hachiko’s.
The community surrounding Shibuya Station is particularly enamored of Hachiko because his story reflects core values of 1920s Japan. The author frequently nods to key aspects of traditional Japanese culture; especially noteworthy is the fact that the Professor dies on a Japanese holiday called Boys’ Day. On this day, flags in the shape of carp are hung outside to celebrate the courage of the fish, which are known to swim against the current. The morning before he dies, the Professor stops in the street to explain the significance of this holiday to Hachiko. He explains that carp “must swim upstream against the current, and that takes great determination and perseverance. […] Every boy […] must strive to be as strong and brave as the carp” (34). This holiday reflects Japanese values of dedication and persistence in the face of hardship, while the Professor’s explanation of its significance is a means of passing traditional culture on to the next “generation.” In his loyalty to the Professor, Hachiko absorbs the lesson, becoming a living embodiment of the Professor’s teachings and their broader cultural context.
Japanese culture also places great value on communal ritual, honor, and remembrance. The collaborative support for erecting a statue honoring Hachiko reflects this tradition. Hachiko’s statue—and story—remains one of the best-known features of Shibuya for generations to come. That it serves as a meeting place honors not only Hachiko but the statue’s own origins in communal responsibility.
The book thus explores how individuals and events become enshrined in cultural memory, suggesting a twofold process: What people choose to remember hinges party on what resonates culturally, but it also reinforces, preserves, and ultimately shapes. Hachiko’s legacy demonstrates how personal acts of devotion and respect can surpass individual experience to become public symbols of a community’s cultural identity.
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