Yu Yu Hakusho Inspired Dog Names

Jirou was a Shiba Inu that served as a minor character throughout Yu Yu Hakusho's earlier chapters. Jirou only appeared in the manga - for whatever reason, the dog was cut out of the anime. Jirou was the faithful pet of a young boy named Shouta. Shouta and Jirou were best friends in life. The boy and his dog were virtually inseparable from one another and did everything together. While Shouta was a young child, Jirou was a very old dog. He was so old, in fact, that he passed away from natural causes while Shouta was still an adolescent. Jirou cared about Shouta so much, however, that he continued to dwell in Shouta's home as a ghost. His presence caused numerous strange occurrences to transpire in Shouta's home. Things actually got so bad that Shouta's parents came to believe that their home was haunted by a malevolent spirit. In reality, Jirou was simply trying to reach out to Shouta and ensure his master's safety. Jirou and Shouta's crisis didn't get resolved until Yusuke personally stepped in and intervened. Thanks to his training as a Spirit Detective, Yusuke was able to solve the crisis with relative ease and help Jirou pass on to the next life. Jirou and Shouta's story was inspired by the tale of Hachiko - a dog who gained fame and notoriety for his deep loyalty to his master. 

Hachiko was an Akita who lived in Japan from 1923 to 1935. He was the pet of Hidesaburo Ueno. Much like Shouta and Jirou, Hachiko and Ueno were extremely close. Ueno was quite fond of his Akita and would allow the dog to walk with him to work every morning. Ueno would send Hachiko away once he and the dog reached a particular Japanese landmark. Hachiko would then wait for his master to return to him at the landmark and the two would travel back home together.

One fateful day, Ueno passed away unexpectedly while he was at work. Ignorant of this fact, Hachiko continued to wait for Ueno at their rendezvous point. With Ueno gone, there was no way on Earth Hachiko could know that he was waiting in vain. Others tried to get Hachiko to leave the rendezvous point but the dog wouldn't budge. Concerned citizens would often visit the dog and feed him. Hachiko would always be kind and courteous in return but he never left the place where he believed that he and Ueno would one day reunite. The Akita continued to wait until he passed away in 1935.