April Fools’ Day in Tokyo – Hachiko is Gone
 April Fools, from the Japan Times – the Hachiko statute was stolen!
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 The original photo of Hachiko, before the dog was digitally removed
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In Japan you’ll encounter April Fools’ hoaxes as good as any in the US. The Japan Times had a great one today – they reported that the Hachiko dog statue was stolen from Shibuya station, and provided a convincingly Photoshop’d picture as proof. Although the statue itself isn’t anything that special to look at, it is one of the most famous landmarks in Tokyo. Shibuya station is one of the busiest train stations in the world, and Hachiko is its most popular meeting point – it’s almost always surrounded by a throng of teenagers.
A network technician described what clearly appears to be a well planned caper. “Five men in khaki work duds, wearing hats, safety glasses and gauze masks, moved in about 1:43 a.m., after the trains had stopped running,” said the man, who declined to give his name.
“They set up traffic cones and ‘Men Working’ signs, and then raised several blue vinyl work sheets around the statue. It took them about 10 minutes to get it off the pedestal.
…As news of the theft spread, a large crowd gathered, with several teenage girls appearing close to tears. “Can’t somebody do something? This is really vexing,” sobbed Saitama teenager Satoko Kawasaki, who held up the image of Hachiko she had recently shot using her cell phone camera.
“Without Hachiko, Shibuya Station won’t be the same any more. I might as well tell my boyfriends to meet me by the statue at Ebisu.”
My Mom and step-father are visiting, and we first heard about it from them, as it was reported on the BBC News channel in their hotel (I don’t know if the BBC was in on the joke or if they were fooled as well). Maria and I weren’t thinking about the date, and we fell for it. “How could they steal a statue that’s 50 ft from a police box?” “But even in the middle of the night there’s lots of people in Shibuya, and work crews aren’t out that late, are they?!?” We happened to be in Shibuya today, and saw that Hachiko was there: “Wow, they found it and put it back already… hey… now wait a second…”
