Hachi - a dog's tale.

What a wonderful fim. A must see, beautifully shot and the dog is a megastar. I LOVE Japanese Akita Inus....

Ah so thats what breed it is!

Haven't seen the film though it looks good but was curious about the breed from the ads as the pup to me looked like a Shiba Inu but then when I saw it as an adult I thought it was too big to be a Shiba, now I know.

They are not to be confused with the American Akita either...
I would give my right arm for one of these but it is not practical, sadly.

the woman i got my chinese crested off has the akita inus, they are stunning and so nice. gorgeous dogs

i want to see this film and its on my list

This is something that has always slightly confused me: If an Akita is reffered to as a Japanese Akita is it automatically an 'Inu' or are they 2 different types of Japanese Akita? Are the American version just registered as Akita's?

I only ask because my ex keeps Akita's and he always called them Japanese Akita's and reffered to the Japanese Akita Inu as a different version of Japanese Akita but his looked nothing like the one in that film they were black and white piebold (thats the horsey term for the colour anyway) with very square heads which I always thought were 'just Akita's' leading me to believe there are 3 types of Akita is that correct?.

Sorry for being so clueless!

from what i know i think they split it into two groups because they started to look different in type. the akitas that you described are american akitas i think, or just the akita. and the akita inu is the one in the film and is truly from japan, like colourwise they are the only colours japan would accept, unlike the colours you descirbe for the akita.
hope i helped you a bit

Just to clarify, "inu" is dog in Japanese.

I believe Shiba Inu translates as "small dog"