A northern Japanese city wants to be reunited with perhaps its most famous onetime resident.

It plans to ask a local authority in Tokyo for the loan of its statue of Hachiko, a dog from Odate in Akita Prefecture that became known as a symbol of faithfulness.

The dog was born in Odate but was later owned by a man living in Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood. Although its master soon died, the dog would wait patiently for his return every evening at a railway station.