北国の《さくらの会》例会出席のため秋田に滞在中に、忠犬ハチ公に関する新聞記事を見た：
“駅前で腹ばいハチ公に「いいね！」…世界で反響（読売新聞）2015年11月12日
亡くなった飼い主を東京・渋谷駅で待ち続けた「忠犬ハチ公」。
駅前で腹ばいになっているハチ公の貴重な写真を紹介した記事が、世界で反響を呼んでいる。
インターネット上の英訳記事に１週間で１００か国以上から１３万件超のアクセス（閲覧）があり、ソーシャル・ネットワーキング・サービス（ＳＮＳ）上でも共感の声が広がっている。
読売新聞が発行している日刊英字紙「ジャパン・ニューズ」は１１月５日、「駅前 くつろぐハチ公」という１０月２２日付の本紙夕刊記事を英訳し、ウェブサイトに掲載した。
この記事は、今春見つかった１９３４年頃の撮影とみられるハチ公の写真を紹介したもの。改札口を背にくつろいだ様子で、駅の風景に溶け込んでいた在りし日の姿がよく分かる。
駅前 くつろぐハチ公…自然な姿 貴重な１枚
（読売プレミアム）2015年10月22日15時0分
東京・渋谷駅前で亡き飼い主を待ち続けた「忠犬ハチ公」が、駅前で腹ばいになっている写真が見つかった。これまで知られている記念撮影やアップの写真とは異なり、当時の駅の風景に溶けこんだ自然な姿をとらえたカットで、貴重な１枚と言えそうだ。 ハチ…”
そこで、元記事などを検索した：
“November 15, 2015
Rare photograph shows Hachiko relaxing alone at Shibuya Station
6:57 pm, November 11, 2015 The Yomiuri Shimbun
A rare,80-year-old photo has been found of Chuken Hachiko (see below), an Akita dog famous for its unshakable loyalty to his master, that shows it lying on its stomach in front of Tokyo’s Shibuya Station.
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■ Chuken Hachiko
An Akita male dogborn in 1923 in Odate, Akita Prefecture. It was raised
by Hidesaburo Ueno, aprofessor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo, and accompanied the professor to and from Shibuya Station. Even after
he died in 1925, the dog would come to the station to wait for his return.”
“Hachiko article draws many ‘likes’worldwide 8:41 pm, November 12, 2015
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The Yomiuri Shimbun carried an article in its Oct. 22 evening edition,
which was thentranslated into English to be carried in The Japan News. The translation appeared in print and on The Japan News website, both on
Nov. 5, under theheadline, “Rare photograph shows Hachiko relaxing alone at Shibuya Station.”
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After the article was carried, the number of views began to soar, with
47,000 views from theUnited States and about 19,000 views from the
Philippines as of Thursday. Thearticle was also found to have been viewed in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well as in South Africa and Kenya.
On top of 120,000 thumbs-ups on Facebook, emotional comments were
posted such as “I just lovethis dog,” and “Dude, this story brings me to tears.” ～～～”
“Thisfaithful friend is the most loyal dog of all time
By Sophia Rosenbaum
November11, 2015 | 11:33am nypost.com/2015/
It’sa new look at old faithful.
An80-year-old photo of the world’s most loyal dog has recently surfaced
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Hachiko’s dedication to his owner Hidesaburo Ueno — a professor of
agriculture at theUniversity of Tokyo–won the hearts of the country, who
immortalized the pup with several bronze statues.
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“Hachiko blended in with the area around the station [in the photo] and
this is just what I saw at that time. I have never looked at such a photo
that caught theatmosphere of Hachiko’s everyday life at that time so well,” Ando told TheJapan News.
Ando’sfather, Teru, created the first statue of Hachiko in 1934.”
とにかく、世界的な反響を呼んだようで、我がことのようにおめでたい気分だ。ハチ公の名声に肖って≪さくらの会≫も≪愛唱会≫も息を吹き返してくれれば、言うこと無し。
差し当たり、唱歌「忠犬ハチ公」を改めて世間にＰＲしよう。ささやかな発表会をほそぼそと続けて行こう。