Following Tokyu Railways, JR East and Keio are also operating trains celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hachiko. These two companies are displaying special memorial plates on the front of their trains.
As I posted before, Hachiko was a male dog born in 1923. He was adopted by a university professor, Ueno Hidesaburo, and lived near Shibuya station in Tokyo. Ueno and Hachiko had a close bond with each other. Every evening, Hachiko went to Shibuya station waiting for Ueno to come back. Ueno abruptly died in 1925, but even after Ueno died, Hachiko continued waiting for him every day at the station exit for a decade. Local people were moved by the faithful dog, and erected the statue of Hachiko. Today, Hachiko statue is a famous meeting spot among people visiting Shibuya.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hachiko, JR East is displaying a black-colored special plate on the front of set 08 of the EMU 235 series on the Yamanote line. The Yamanote line is the most famous commuter line in Tokyo. This busy line is looped through several downtown areas including Shibuya. On the other hand, Keio is displaying an orange-colored plate on the front of set 1734 of the EMU 1000 series on the Inokashira line. The Inokashira line is a 12.7 kilometers-long commuter route penetrating a residential area in the western part of Tokyo Metropolis starting from Shibuya terminal.
Shibuya is hot on Hachiko right now.
