Aoyama Cemetery

This guide to Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo tells the story of Hachiko, the Akita dog who walked a Tokyo University professor to Shibuya Station every morning and waited for him every evening for years after the professor's sudden death. It follows the dog's daily vigil and the small grave here where visitors still leave treats and incense. The guide also traces the cemetery's own history since it opened in 1874 as Japan's first public burial ground, including the foreign section added a few years later for the doctors, engineers and teachers who helped modernize Japan.