Review of Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) by Pritesh K — 18 Mar 2011

I visited Tokyo a few years ago and stayed in a hotel a block away from the train station where the statue of Hachiko is located. When I saw the film was available on Netflix I wanted to see the movie. The cast is first rate with A list actors in key roles, as is the story, which seems faithful to the Japanese legend. We have a dog who is at the end of life, and so seeing the loyalty of Hachiko over his life was very touching. The dog at the end was pretty old as he had the same drooped head position as our own old dog.

The story is pretty simple, but well done. It is a touching story and worth viewing. At the same time, there's not much too it. But I do think it's an interesting insight into Japanese culture that they would revere the faithfulness of an animal to his owner, by erecting a statue to the dog waiting for his dead owner. As you see the tragedy in the wake of the earthquake unfold in 2011, I couldn't help but notice the stoicism, grace and loyalty of the Japanese people to each other in the way they have endured this disaster. In America today, someone would call the animal control cops if an unleashed dog was waiting at a train station, and a week later, he would be euthanized if no one picked him up.