how did the film get its name ??

Many of my Japanese friends call refer to this film as Ichi-Go.

Maybe it has something to do with a countdown.

San-Ni-Ichi-Go!

3-2-1-Go!

...just my two cents!

i thought it was because during the 'chicken' scene with the train, Taro Yamamoto's character shouts 'go'... i'm not sure what relevance it has to the rest of the film though.

[deleted]

It is the title of the fiction on which the film is based!!
Very funny and interesting!!! - written by Kaneshiro Kazuki, a Korean who was born and has lived in Japan.
The story of the film is sort of a semi biography of the author, who actually changed his nationality from North Korean to South Korean, then entered a Japanese highschool, experienced some bullies himself as a Korean-

Personally, I think the fiction is better than the film- though the story is almost exactly the same - apart from the reason why Sakurai was drawn to Sugihara- there is something in the fictin, which is very humorous- which is not quite possible to be translated into English-!!!!

LOOK at the ratings! only 8 males under 18 years have rated it? I'm one of them. and Females too (under 18), only 2!

Your post is 8 years old, but I thought it would be worth sharing this. It's from the novel: "Go for freedom. Go for love. Go fight. GO!" Like 'ganbatte!' ('go for it!' or 'fight on!') or 'carpe diem' (seize the day).

But Sugihara is mocking the whole 'Ganbatte!' thing because of the discrimination. He says in the book:

"Everybody (in Japan) is urged to do their best. Ganbatte! All that *beep* but for people like us, it's like, "Ganbatte! Oh, wait. You're not Japanese, are you? Keep your head low, Korean, and stay low."

"What am I supposed to say to that? It'll probably get the *beep* beaten out of me, but I'll go for whatever I desire. Go, like how I'm on fire for my girl."

(Note: Sugihara's a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen.)