This is not a statue of just a dog, this is a statue of the legendary Hachiko. As a puppy he followed his master to the train every day, to come back in the evening to meet him. But one day in May 1925, his master did not come home; he had died while at work. But Hachiko was there the next night. And the night after that. Nine years later, he was still waiting, and some locals were so moved by this, and they let cast a bronze statue of the dog. The statue did not survive the war; it was melted down for weapons, but a new statue was raised in 1948. Hachiko himself, died in 1935 and was put into his master's grave.