The movie, based on a 1990 short story of the same name by acclaimed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, is about the solitary life of a stoic technical illustrator named Tony Takitani.

The writer was on Maui years ago when he paid $1 for a secondhand T-shirt bearing the name Tony Takitani. Murakami, one of Japan's most famous authors, could not be reached for comment, but he told the Daily Yomiuri in Japan that "every time I put on the T-shirt, I felt like this Tony Takitani guy was begging me to write a story about him."

Takitani the attorney said he was unaware of the short story until friends sent him a copy after it appeared in New Yorker magazine in 2002.

Then in October 2003, he learned it was being made into a film. He said he tried to contact the director but was unable to overcome the language barrier.

The film even has a Web site: www.tonytakitani.com.

"It's just kind of funny, cool and crazy," he said. "I didn't think the movie would amount to much. But here we are."

Takitani was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1978 to 1982, when he made a failed bid for the state Senate.

His life in no way resembles that of the fictional Tony Takitani, whose mother, wife and father die one after the other. The character finds the unexpected love of a beautiful young woman with an uncontrollable urge to collect expensive clothing.

The respected Maui-born attorney is happily married and the father of an 18-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.

Takitani joked that he would have preferred that his cinematic namesake be a comedy or an action-adventure starring Bruce Willis.

"I do have a few of those T-shirts left. Maybe I can earn some money on eBay."

"Tony Takitani" the movie won a special jury prize at a film festival in Switzerland last summer, and Strand Releasing acquired the North American distribution rights this week.

Theatrical release in the United States is planned for sometime in May or June.