Chapter Five Bronze statues of Hachiko

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In April 1934, a bronze statue in his likeness was erected at Shibuya Station(35°39′32.6″N 139°42′2.1″E), and Hachikō himself was present at its unveiling. The statue was recycled for the war effort during World War II. In 1948 The Society for Recreating the Hachikō Statue commissioned[citation needed] Takeshi Ando, son of the original artist, to make a second statue. When the new statue appeared, a dedication ceremony occurred.[14] The new statue, which was erected in August 1948, still stands and is a popular meeting spot. The station entrance near this statue is named "Hachikō-guchi", meaning "The Hachikō Entrance/Exit", and is one of Shibuya Station's five exits.

The Japan Times played an April Fools' joke on readers by reporting that the bronze statue was stolen a little before 2:00 AM on April 1, 2007, by "suspected metal thieves". The false story told a very detailed account of an elaborate theft by men wearing khaki workers' uniforms who secured the area with orange safety cones and obscured the theft with blue vinyl tarps. The "crime" was allegedly recorded on security cameras.[15]

A similar statue stands in Hachikō's hometown, in front of Ōdate Station. In 2004, a new statue of Hachikō was erected on the original stone pedestal from Shibuya in front of the Akita Dog Museum in Odate.

After the release of the American movie Hachi: A Dog's Tale filmed in Woonsocket, RI, the Japanese Consulate in US helped the Blackstone ValleyTourism Council and the city of Woonsocket to unveil an identical statue of Hachiko at the Woonsocket Depot Square, which was the location of the "Bedridge" train station featured in the movie.

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