Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Hachiko Statue

Located at Shibuya, Tokyo, the statue of Hachiko won't be hard to find. It's located just in front of Shibuya train station and near to the famous Shibuya crossing.


The story is back in 1924, a Professor of  The University of Tokyo, Hidesaburo Ueno,  adopted an abandoned dog, which he named Hachiko. The dog was a Akita breed. Hachiko used to greet the Professor  everyday whenever he come back from work at the same time at the Shibuya Railway Station. Hachiko and the Professor followed this routine everytime until May 1925, when the Professor died and never returned home. But Hachiko waited there for the Professor to return home for the next 10 years (some say 9 years)  :-(



Other commuters and shops owners nearby who had seen the bond of the dog with the Professor felt sorry for it and started feeding it at the station. Hachiko finally died on March 8, 1935. His remains have been preserved at the National Science Museum of Japan, Tokyo. 

Today the Japanese people would refer to Hachiko to inspire their children. And in honour of Hachiko, his statue was made at where he waited for the Professor to return home. 

Images below from Wikipedia:







Friday, 10 May 2013

Tokyo, The Big Orange

You that New York city is called "The Big Apple", but did you know Tokyo city is called "The Big Orange"? 
From an unverified source: Tokyo city is called "The Big Orange" or also called "The Big Mikan" because of the web like pattern streets (like the one you can find covering the orange pulps), sometimes with no name or numbers. Sometimes a single route will eventually becomes two route out of nowhere. When people ask for direction on the streets, the answer you will get are usually the name of  shops or places close to the direction. So do you know why Tokyo City is called "The Big Orange"? Please share with us at our facebook page :-)