kenleewrites in 日本

If you know a little about Japan, I’m sure you’re heard of Shibuya. The place where just about every traveller to Japan will visit at least once. If you’ve been to Shibuya, you must have met “Faithful Hachiko”. Better yet, if you were meeting a Japanese friend (or one living in Japan), you must have been asked to meet up there. There is a rather touching story being “Faithful Hachiko”.

I don’t want to miss any details, so I’m going to just quote Prof. Wikipedia.

In 1924, Hachikō was brought to Tokyo by his owner, Hidesamurō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo. During his owner’s life, Hachikō saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Uyeno didn’t return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.
Hachiko was given away after his master’s death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After time, Hachi apparently realized that Professor Uyeno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for Uyeno to return. And each day he didn’t see his friend among the commuters at the station.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachiko attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachi and Professor Uyeno together each day. Realizing that Hachiko waited in vigil for his dead master, their hearts were touched. They brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
This continued for 10 years, with Hachikō appearing only in the evening time, precisely when the train was due at the station.

The story I read in a children’s book told of Hachiko waiting 10 years until he died. This is why the area around the statue is an extremely popular meeting spot.

How many of you complained when your date or friends were a couple of minutes late? Back when we didn’t have cellphones nor pagers, a few minutes didn’t really mind to me. Can’t ignore some unexpected delays here and there. But in this modern age, how many of us are guilty of checking our cellphones and sms-ing, emailing or even calling the other party the moment it’s one second past the meeting time asking, “I’m here. Where are you now? 着いたよ、今はどこですか？ (tsuita yo, ima wa doko desuka?)”? I know I am. ^^.

There could be another reason for this behavior though. Don’t we usually expect the other party to inform us if they will be late? With a cellphone handy, we can get/give second by second updates. Maybe it started off as courtesy. But over time, I think we’re grown to expect. That would probably explain why when we arrive first, we would have this urge to contact the other party.

Then again, maybe I’m just weird this way and am thinking too much. ^^. What do you think?

Anyway, while waiting for a friend (he mailed me and told me he was going to be 20 minutes late), I started walking around Hachiko and taking photos of him. Did you know that behind him, among the bushes, there’s this plaque dedicated to him? It has descriptions in both English and Japanese. I didn’t notice it before taking this picture.　><.

After taking some pics of Hachiko, I wondered… What is he looking at? What does he see everyday? So I went close to him and tried to take photos at his eye level. He looks out to the station; still waiting for his master. ^^. He sees everyone; he sees friends and family meeting up and going off happily. Isn’t this a wonderful meeting spot? Do you have meeting spots with a story where you are?

Some other night shots of Shibuya. Lottery Jackpot’s at 13 Billion yen. I should try my luck. ^^. Do you buy lottery?

From the new AXE commercial.

After meeting up, we went to have dinner. We wanted to have steak, but the usual spots (Gold Rush and Outback) were packed with 40 minutes of queue. It is at times like these that the iPhone really shines. Whipped out my iPhone, tapped Google Maps and searched for steak. Within a few seconds, all the drop pins appeared on the map, showing places which serve steak. That’s how I discovered this cool place called Demode Queen. Pics are a little dark, but it’s a nice place for a date. They really have variety in their drinks menu and the food is good too. I’ll be going back there soon.

On the way back to the station, from a distance I saw a crowd around someone dressed in white. Could it be!?! The Tokyo Stormtrooper?…….. nah… he’s just an upcoming comedian who’s promoting his life performance later this week in Shibuya. I didn’t really get his act, but you know, if he’s dressed like this, he deserves a picture. ^^.