The stars of “Yaji-Kita Douchu Teresuko” were in New York on Monday for the movie’s world premiere. Kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo (52), Emoto Akira (58) and former idol singer Koizumi Kyoko (41) braved the pouring rain and walked the streets of Manhattan in their period costumes. The historical comic-drama, directed by Hirayama Hideyuki, was shown at the Walter Reed Theater in the Lincoln Center with the English title “Three for the Road”. It’s the latest of many adaptations of a road movie theme that dates back to the first “Yaji-Kita” film in 1927. The two main characters have even been played by women, with the legendary Misora Hibari and Eri Chiemi taking on the roles in 1962. For Nakamura, it’s the first movie starring role in 46 years, the last being when he was a child actor in “Acchan no Baby Gang” in 1961. He and Hirayama had been planning the latest “Yaji-Kita” revival for ten years, though in the meantime Nakamura’s eldest son Kantaro (25) worked with the director on the movie “Turn” in 2001, and younger son Shichinosuke (24) starred in “Mayonaka no Yaji-san, Kita-san” in 2005. “(My son) beat me to it, so we re-wrote the script. We made a movie that’s like soaking in the tub at an onsen.”