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When Ronnie gives a presentation at school about a personal hero, he tells the story of his grandfather and his dog, Hachiko.

Parker Wilson, a professor of music who commutes to nearby Providence, Rhode Island, finds a lost puppy on the station platform in Bedridge and takes him home for the night. (The audience sees that it was freighted from a Japanese monastery to the United States and that the basket's tag was torn in transit.)

The puppy remains unclaimed, and the two grow close while he takes it everywhere with him. Ken, a Japanese professor friend, tells Parker that the dog is a breed called an Akita and that the Japanese character on his collar tag is the number eight—"hachi". Parker's wife, Cate, eventually warms to the dog—but Hachi sleeps outside in his own shed.