Complete List of Japanese "Tora-San" Films 1969-2019
"Otoko wa Tsurai yo" (男はつらいよ) a.k.a. "It's Tough Being a Man" -film series holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running movie series starring a single actor - at 50 films in 50 years, this is a record highly unlikely ever to be broken. It is also worth noting that all but two of these were directed by one director, Yôji Yamada, Japan's most productive director of all time.
Please also note that the first 49 films were released in only 28 years, between 1969 and 1997, and the last one released in 2019 on the 50th anniversary, is actually a homage to the star of these films, Kiyoshi Atsumi, who had died unexpectedly in 1996. He still appears in the film through flashbacks and previously unseen footage shot during the past years.
Please also note that the first 49 films were released in only 28 years, between 1969 and 1997, and the last one released in 2019 on the 50th anniversary, is actually a homage to the star of these films, Kiyoshi Atsumi, who had died unexpectedly in 1996. He still appears in the film through flashbacks and previously unseen footage shot during the past years.
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- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôSachiko MitsumotoTora-San, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôChôchô Miyako
- DirectorAzuma MorisakiStarsKiyoshi AtsumiMichiyo AratamaChieko BaishôTraveling salesman Kuruma Torajiro falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.
- DirectorShun'ichi KobayashiStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôKomaki KuriharaAfter winning big at the races, Torajiro wants to take his aunt and uncle on a trip to Hawaii to partly pay the great filial debt he feels he owes them, but the plan hits a snag. Also, a pretty kindergarten teacher rents a room at Toraya.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôAiko NagayamaAfter an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to change his vagrant lifestyle and become an honest worker with a steady job.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiAyako WakaoChieko Baishô
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôRumi SakakibaraAfter a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôShin Morikawa
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôTatsuo MatsumuraWhile Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôGin MaedaTora visits his family after a year. After a misunderstanding he gets upset and leaves to end up in the countryside. On the way he meets Lily and they feel a connection. Sometime later Tora meets Lily again and she spends some time together.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôGin MaedaTora-San returns to Shibamata just before his family leaves on a trip for Kyushu. Later, he encounters an old school chum and begins to have feeling for his artist sister.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôGin MaedaAfter Torajiro's latest attempt to find a bride goes awry, he starts traveling again and runs into Utako (last seen in Tora-san's Dear Old Home), now a widow.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôGin MaedaAfter Hiroshi is injured in a workplace accident, Torajiro gives Sakura the money he has saved and leaves to work as a traveling salesman once again. During his travels, Torajiro meets a father who shares a drink with him. In the morning, Torajiro is shocked to learn that the man has left his baby behind and a note asking Tora to take care of the child.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôMasami ShimojôTraveling through Hokkaido with a disgruntled salaryman seeking a lost love (Eiji Funakoshi), Tora-san runs into Lily, who has gotten divorced since they last saw each other in Tora-san's Forget Me Not (1973) and is working as an itinerant singer. After a spat in the scenic town of Otaru, they split and meet again in Tora-san's hometown of Shibamata, where they reconcile. With sparks reignited between the pair, will the perpetual bachelor Tora-san finally find a chance at love?
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôMasami ShimojôTora-san returns to his family's shop in Shibamata, Tokyo to find himself accused of being the father of a 17-year-old girl. It turns out that Tora-san had only given help to the girl's mother after her husband had left her. Tora-san becomes infatuated with the female archeology student who is staying with his family, and attempts to take up intellectual pursuits to get near her.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôKiwako TaichiTora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôFumi DanWhen Tora-san's infatuation with his nephew's school teacher causes family turmoil, he leaves on his travels again. When he returns, he falls in love with the teacher's mother, who has a terminal illness.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôKyôko MayaTora-san befriends the descendant of a feudal lord. The man asks Tora to locate his deceased son's wife who resides somewhere in Tokyo.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôShiho FujimuraTora-san becomes friends with Toraya's newest tenant, a pachinko-playing electrician that goes by the nickname Watt. Tora attempts to match Watt with a young waitress.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôNana KinomiTora-san returns from his travels throughout Japan to his family in Tokyo to find his uncle recovering from an illness. After a family fight erupts, he returns to the road swearing he'll never come back. He becomes friends with Tomekichi, a confused and inexperienced young man who thinks highly of Tora-san. When the pair return to Tokyo, they both fall in love with stage dancers.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôMasami ShimojôAfter a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôKaori MomoiLovable Tora-san returns in episode 24 with his adorable family and friends for a whole new adventure with a new gentle lady friend and whole new exciting mishaps.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiHerb EdelmanChieko BaishôTora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKiyoshi AtsumiChieko BaishôMasami ShimojôTora receives a letter from Lily, telling him that she is terminally ill. He flies to see her in a Okinawa hospital, and the two get a chance to rekindle their old fling.
