Ken Uehara is Mr. Thank You, the young bus driver on the route from a small fishing village to Tokyo. He carries messages for the people on foot, buys them records in the city, shares their gossip, and when he comes across people on the road, he honks his horn, and greets them with a cheerful "Arigato."
Hiroshi Shimizu's early talkie film gives us a tour from a small fishing village and the long road that runs between the mountains and the sea. He also gives us glimpses into the people: the girl being taken into Tokyo by her mother to be sold to a brothel; the pompous insurance salesman; the cynical woman who cadges cigarettes from him, shares her liquor with her fellow passengers -- except the insurance salesman, and the people on the road, who cannot afford his bus, but know he is a friend. It's a fine little portrait of country life, with a village strung out the length of the road, where everyone knows everyone else's business, and everyone is kind to each other -- except those people in the roadster who keep passing the bus with never a thank you.
