The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness

The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) is a Japanese cult classic directed by Yoji Yamada, based on a 1971 New York Post column by journalist Pete Hamill. It follows an ex-convict’s road trip across Hokkaido to come home, to find out if his ex-wife is still waiting for him. There will be a yellow handkerchief on the window if she is.

The heartwarming film was a huge success, winning the first-ever Japan Academy Film Prize. It also got a Hollywood remake in 2008, starring William Hurt, Kristen Stewart, and Eddie Redmayne, in addition to a Thai remake in 1982.

In Yubari, Hokkaido, where the film’s climax takes place, the “yellow handkerchief of happiness” continues to fly. In the former residences of local coal miners, there sits a red Mazda Familia of the same type that appears in the film, surrounded by a myriad of yellow post-it notes covering every inch of the walls.