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- When Hachi moved into the Kobayashi residence, a newspaper deliveryman who lived in the neighborhood cared for Hachi, and gave him good amount of exercise. But he died soon afterward in a traffic accident. After that, Kobayashi alone could not give Hachi enough exercise, and ended up letting him go free. Then, Hachi went straight to Shibuya Station and this became a routine. Hachi left the Kobayashi residence in the morning and came back in the evening. He kept this routine every day . . . There was also a person in the neighborhood of Shibuya Station, who was kind to Hachi before he became famous. This person, about age 30, worked at a stationery store across the street from the police station, which was under the railroad tracks. I saw him often giving Hachi water. I met him and asked him to take care of Hachi, but this person died soon. Strangely, two of the few people who were kind to Hachi before he became famous died young . . . Hachi was too gentle a dog for his own good. He did not bark at other dogs or people. He only occasionally made a soft, low-pitched “woof” sound. I bought yakitori from the vendor for Hachi, and he played “paw,” “sit,” and “turn around” with me. When Mr. Kobayashi put an expensive collar and harness on him, people stole them right away. People also stole his ID tag, because it was considered a good-luck charm for safe childbirth. Despite the fact that Mr. Kobayashi had registered Hachi at the Yoyogi police station, dogcatchers mistook Hachi as a stray dog and caught him. This was so because people had stolen his ID tag and his collar and harness. When Hachi wandered into the small parcels room of Shibuya Station, employees smacked him and even painted graffiti on his face with Japanese ink. I once saw Hachi coming out of the station employees’ room, with dark circles around his eyes, looking like he was wearing black-framed eyeglasses. His snout had curved lines, looking like he was wearing a black mustache. I also saw the yakitori vendor chasing Hachi away in the evening. I felt sorry for Hachi. He looked sad as if he were in mourning. (en)
- Hachi must have missed the late Dr. Ueno Hidesaburō very much. Soon after Hachi was taken to the house of Dr. Ueno’s widow’s kin in Asakusa, Hachi was found at the former residence of Dr. Ueno . . . After Hachi had moved into Mr. Kobayashi Kikusaburō’s house, Hachi stopped going to the former Ueno residence, probably because he realized that the Ueno family was gone and a different family lived there. Therefore, Hachi seemed to miss Shibuya Station the most. Whenever Mr. Kobayashi unleashed Hachi, he went straight to Shibuya Station. (en)
- The decisive clue came from the four Akita puppies that Ueno had raised previously. They were named Tarō, Tarō II , Gorō, and Roku . Tarō was the most common name for the first-born boy in Japan at that time. In turn, Jirō refers to the second-born boy. Gorō means the fifth-born boy. Roku means six, and Rokurō the sixth-born boy. Ueno most likely named the last Akita-inu Roku, because Rokurō sounds somewhat tongue tied.[63] Following this sequence in numbers, Ueno should have named the next Akita puppy Shichi or Shichirō . However, people native to Tokyo spoke the traditional Tokyo dialect, as some Londoners in England spoke with a Cockney accent. Many Tokyoites could not pronounce the word “shichi” articulately, and pronounced it “hichi,” instead. Therefore, Ueno skipped seven, and named the puppy Hachi . He omitted “rō” from Hachirō , because Hachirō also sounds somewhat tongue tied. Hence, the naming of Hachi came about. This would make sense. This interpretation of the naming of Hachi has never been presented in any of the literature on Hachi. (en)
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