The Weekly Japan Blog

Hachiko the dog In the 1920’s there was an undying love created between a professor and his dog. This loyal dog everyday would scuttle across Tokyo to the train station and wait for his owner to finish lecturing at the Tokyo Imperial University. Hachiko the dog was a beautiful and friendly Japanese Akita with a loyalty that is renowned in Japan. And this is why: sadly, one day the owner Hidesaburo Ueno suddenly died whilst lecturing his class at the university a phenomenal thing happened next. Every day for the next 9 years 9 months and fifteen days the loyal dog would wander down to the station and wait for his owner. It is a beautiful testament to the bond between the humans and dogs. And is respected among the Japanese as a beautiful testament to loyalty. There is a statue outside Shibuya station and Hachiko’s hometown. Both are frequented by the Japanese and tourists alike. If this story touched your heart, why not watch the movie: Hachi: A Dog’s Tale. And if any of y...

Matsuo Basho is a poet that has a great level of notoriety among the Japanese people. As a matter of fact, I have not yet met a Japanese person whom does not know of him and many can recite his work. He was a poet in the Edo era a transformative time that would see Japan separated from the outside world due to the period of isolation. Born 1644 and died 1694 in between he left a legacy of poetic work that inspires poets the world over. He is largely heralded as the father of Haiku. A Haiku is a poem that uses 5 syllables on the first line and 7 syllables on the second finishing with 5 lines on the final third line. The Haiku is often structured around nature and/or the human experience. The Matsuo family was of samurai descent, but Basho preferred the finer arts and developed several schools of writing in Japan. In 1793 Basho was deified by the Shinto bureaucracy and for a time criticising his work was literally blasphemy. The Shinto process of deification is part of the ance...