A career landmark for both Ishihara Yujiro and director Masuda Toshio, Akai Handkerchief (Red Handkerchief, 1964) also became the ultimate definer of Nikkatsu’s muudo akushon ("mood action") aesthetic. Ishihara is a Yokohama detective who, together with partner Nitani Hideaki, is trying to crack a big drug case. They nab a key witness - a crusty old yatai (food stall) owner, but he refuses to spill. Meanwhile Ishihara becomes acquainted - and infatuated with - his factory worker daughter, Asaoka Ruriko. But it all ends badly when the old man makes what looks to be a suicidal escape attempt - and Ishihara’s bullet stops him.
Flash forward four years: Ishihara is a now construction worker, Nitani, a wealthy businessman who has married Asaoka. At the persistent urging of a senior detective (Kaneko Nobuo), Ishihara decides to return to Yokohama to determine the truth behind the events of that fateful day. First, though, he has resolve his doubts about not only his own actions, but the true motives of his former partner. Why did their lives turn out so differently? He begins to find answers when he reunites with Asaoka. He also realizes that he still has feelings for her - and she for him.
The third-highest grossing Japanese film of 1964, Akai Handkerchief signaled a new, more adult phase in Ishihara’s career, in which he played troubled, conflicted characters who can no longer charm, smart talk or punch their way out of every situation. It also marked a way forward for Nikkatsu’s action films, one that they were to follow through the middle of the decade.