The classic 1987 film Hachi-Ko, about a real-life dog who has become a legend in Japan, is now available on VCD.
The film, directed by Seijro Kohyama, portrays the touching relationship between Professor Ueno, a famous academic at Tokyo University in the 1920s, and an Akita dog, which is sent to the professor as a gift.
Despite complaints from his wife, Professor Ueno decides to keep the beautiful dog. Loyal to his master, Hachi walks with the professor to the railway station every morning and greets him at the station every evening.
The first half of the film, filled with vivid details of the friendship between Professor Ueno and Hachi, will tug at the heartstrings of every dog lover. These delightful moments also make the latter half of the film, which tells of the sudden death of Professor Ueno and Hachi's remarkable loyalty, even more poignant.
The scenes in which the starved and frozen dog waits at the railway station for years for his master to return will move even the most cynical to tears. The film does not over-dramatise these moments and allows the emotion to seep through the solemn images.
A dog is a man's best friend, and there is no better proof of this idiom than the story of Hachi-Ko.