Shiawase No Kiiroi Hankachi (aka The Yellow Handkerchief) (1977)

A geeky young man (Tetsuya Takeda) lacking in social skills meets a shy young girl (Kaori Momoi) and they hook up. They offer a quiet spoken stranger (Ken Takakura) a lift and the three end up going on a road trip to the small town where the stranger once lived. Loosely based on a series of magazine articles by Pete Hamill and directed by Yoji Yamada. Who would think a Japanese movie would be "inspired" by an American pop song (Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree)? While popular in Japan, the film didn't even make a ripple in the U.S. It's a fairly standard road trip movie that comes into its own during the second half when we get the full backstory of Takakura's character. The ending is clearly designed to elicit buckets of tears but I was left dry eyed, perhaps because I knew exactly where it was going. Takeda's character is rather annoying and when someone beat him up, I was rather pleased! All in all, a decent entertainment but unmemorable. With Chieko Baishho as Takakura's wife.