After bringing rakugo to the big screen in Shaberedomo Shaberedomo, director Hirayama Hideyuki continues to celebrate the gently raucous humor of traditional comedy with his latest Three for the Road (a.k.a. Yajikita Dochu Teresuko). Set in feudal Japan, this warm, witty, and downright charming period comedy feels like a closer cousin to the road films of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour than the hardboiled samurai flicks one may expect from the era. The whimsical film inspires hearty laughter with a mixture of universal slapstick and classic comedy drawn from folk tales and kabuki. Though there are no samurai, viewers can anticipate visits from raccoon spirits and sea monsters. Koizumi Kyoko (Kuchi Teien), veteran Emoto Akira, and kabuki star Nakamura Kanzaburo in his screen debut make up the core threesome in this delightful journey through feudal, fanciful Japan.

Getting too old for the job, courtesan Okino (Koizumi Kyoko) wants to make money fast and buy her freedom. After a hack get-rich-quick scheme falls flat, she decides to make a run for it with the help of her admirer, kindhearted widower Yaji (Nakamura Kanzaburo). Yaji's buddy, failed alcoholic actor Kita (Emoto Akira), also joins the escape party after botching his suicide. The three traveling companions joyfully hightail it through the countryside with Okino's boss on their trail and hapless misadventures waiting from every inn.