Ted Johnson

Those reviewers who write of the horribleness of this story fail to understand the situation and further do not understand just how loyal dogs can be, especially guard dogs like the Akita. It was clear that after his companion died, Hachi was unable to adapt to a new situation, basically feeling that he was abandoning his companion. Not only did he not want to live with any others, he was unable to, being compelled to return to the train station and wait. The humans who attempted to help him understood this and let him go; there was no abuse in this action and they did the right thing. So, he waited until his companion came through the station door again. Believe it or not, many dogs are amazingly hardy and can willingly live independently of humans. It's an admirable and noble story both from a human perspective as well as that of the dog's.