The breed of Hachi the dog is called Akita, and it's a rare breed. At the times of Hachi, there were only 30 living Akita dogs in all of Japan.
Hachi was adopted another name by the Japanese, of "Chuken Hachiko", which literally means, "loyal dog Hachiko"
Hachiko Monogatari was the number one Japanese film on the Japanese market in 1987, earning ¥2 billion in distributor rental income and ¥3.4 billion in gross receipts.
In the movie Hachi never wags his tail.
An American-produced version of the story, titled Hachi: A Dog's Tale, starring Richard Gere, Joan Allen, and Sarah Roemer, was released in 2009.