Tokyo Day 1a: Visiting the real Hachiko

It was news about the latest statue of Hachiko and the Professor that started it all.

Why not make a trip to Tokyo to see it for ourselves? And we haven’t been for any holiday for more than 12 years now, especially after getting the cats and starting AnimalCare.

So, after carefully planning, getting the tickets and leaving the cats in good hands under the children, off we went.

We arrived in Tokyo at almost midnight, on 1st April 2016. From Haneda airport, we took two trains to the APA Hotel Keisei Ueno Ekimae, which is located in the district of Ueno, which happens to be near all the three Hachiko locations: (1) The real Hachiko at the Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno Park itself, which is within walking distance from our hotel, (2) Hachiko and the Professor at University of Tokyo and (3) The most popular Hachiko statue at Shibuya train station.

Jia-Wen goes to Haneda often and had already briefed us on the trains and how they run. We googled our entire itinerary before going, with full details of which lines, which trains, which stations and even the fare.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was midnight and when I looked out from our room on the 7th floor, I saw my first ever sakura tree – in full bloom! It was quite a sight. I couldn’t sleep after that – this was going to be so exciting. Sakura full bloom only happens for a few days in each city.

The next morning, my husband made sure I’d get to see all three Hachikos on Day One itself.

Our first stop was Ueno Park, which was within walking distance from our hotel – right outside, actually.

Sakura in full bloom lined the entire park.

People were walking their dogs.

The real Hachiko’s body is here, on the second floor.

This is the preserved body of the real Hachiko – the world famous Akita who waited faithfully for his master for 10 years not knowing that his master, Professor Ueno, had already passed on. Hachiko is a national symbol of loyalty and is prominently featured in children’s books.

The other two dogs above him are also equally revered by the Japanese people. The one who looks like a bear is Jiro. Taro and Jiro were two Sakhalin huskies who served at the Antartica and miraculous survived for a year without their masters. The third dog is an anonymous Kai Ken, hailed to be the purest dog breed in Japan. The Kai Ken was designated a national treasure of Japan in 1934.

It is truly an overwhelming feeling as I stand next to this great dog.

That’s a model of a life-sized blue whale outside the museum.

We also experienced a 360 theatre presentation of the evolution of earth. The screen is spherical (360 degrees). At the entrance, museum staff briefed us that we would have to stand while inside and the narration is entirely in Japanese. That was fine for us.

Recyling is taken very seriously.

We visited a temple here at the park.

Recyling bins are everywhere.

Spring has just begun and dogs are everywhere!

As we would see later, the full bloom of the sakura is greatly celebrated at this park.

Even the manhole covers depict the sakura!

Next post: Visiting Hachiko and the Professor at the University of Tokyo.