society. Since I was born in Japan and I have been taking it for granted, I didn’t think about it.” Before playing Sugihara in the film, he was surrounded by an environment where everyone is Japanese and everyone takes that for granted. But after knowing the other in his own society, he internalized the nationalistic sentiments of the Japanese. Having discovered himself as nationalist, Kubozuka tried to rebel against what he sees as “uncool Japan” that doesn't have its own pride at all. In 2002, he produced a movie named Kyouki no Sakura or Madness in Bloom, in which he acted a role of young nationalistic neo-Nazi in Tokyo. Themes The central theme of the film is the integration problems of Zainichi Koreans and also the problematic struggle between the transfer of the North Korean citizenship (Chousen-jin) to the South Korean citizenship (Kankoku-jin) that allows for a person to be more free in Japanese society. Go (Yōsuke Kubozuka) is also faced with the dilemma of falling in love with a Japanese girl whose family values are placed against the favor of Korean-blooded citizens, and faces the realized boundaries between the seemingly non-existent yet realistically affective ideology of "citizenship" in the Japanese society/culture. Thematically the Director Yukisada Isao and writer Kazuki Kaneshiro plays with the traditional Japanese racism that Koreans face. Yukisada Isao often allows elements such as "love" and "friendship" to take a romantic protagonistic role to ring out over the given antagonistic backdrop set up in this particular film. It is also a social commentary on its contradictory backwardness of Japan as a society that plays a role in such a forth-playing manner at the world stage. Go is also mentally attached to traditional Japanese values and listens to "Rakugo", which is an ancient form of Japanese standup comedy. Since he is a North Korean boy that was born and raised in Japan, he faces problems of self-identity and belongingness to a certain culture where the culture that nourished him is the exact element that counteracts to work against him. These complicated issues are then drowned out by Yukisada's portrayal of the importance of the short sighted nature of true friendship and true love that in the end renders the concept of nationality as relatively irrelevant to one's own lifestyle and beliefs in a given perspective. Awards The film has received numerous awards. 2001 – Hochi Film Awards –