Chishū Ryū
Chishu Ryu (May 13, 1904 in Kumamoto, Japan – March 16, 1993 in Yokohama, Japan) was a famous Japanese film actor, a favourite of the director Yasujiro Ozu. From 1928 to 1992 he appeared in at least 155 films, including Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) and Yoshitaro Nomura's Castle of... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana tokubetsu-hen
Carrying a bag full of samples, Mitsuo makes rounds to shoe stores in remote cities. While staying at budget hotels, his thoughts turn to Tora-san.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no seishun
Tora befriends a pretty barbershop owner and runs into Izumi. When Tora twists his ankle, Mitsuo comes to care for him and see Izumi. Meanwhile, Izumi must choose between her new job in Tokyo and returning to Nagoya to care for her mother.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no kokuhaku
When Izumi can't stand seeing her mother flirt with other men, she leaves home. She sends a letter to Mitsuo and Mitsuo goes looking for her. But Izumi unexpectedly meets Tora-san.
Bis ans Ende der Welt
In 1999, a woman's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with two bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. On the way, she runs into another fugitive from the law — an American doctor on the run from the CIA.
Yume
This is essentially eight separate short films, with some overlaps in characters and thematic material - that of man's relationship with his environment. 'Sunshine Through The Rain' - 'The Peach Orchard' - 'The Blizzard' - 'Crows' - 'Mount Fuji in Red' - The Weeping Demon' - 'Village of the Watermills'
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no kyuujitsu
Mitsuo goes to Nagoya to visit Izumi, whose father left Izumi’s sad, bar hostess mother for another woman, so together they decide to confront him in Oita. Meanwhile, Izumi’s mother befriends Tora-san and together they travel to Oita to meet them, with Tora-san quickly falling for her en route.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kokoro no tabiji
During his wandering throughout Japan, Tora-san meets a suicidal man. He travels with the man to Vienna, but winds up homesick for Japan.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Boku no ojisan
Tora-san's nephew Mitsuo is exchanging letters with Izumi, a former classmate whose parents divorced and took her out of Tokyo.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro sarada kinenbi
In his travels through Japan, Tora-san meets and falls in love with a female doctor, however he is afraid of committing to a relationship.
Marusa no onna 2
Ryōko Itakura returns as the tough-as-nails government taxing agent. This time she must figure out a way to expose a fanatical religious cult lead by a corrupt sociopath.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro monogatari
A playboy-gambler friend of Tora-san’s dies and, abandoned by his mother, his little boy suddenly turns up in Shibamata. Searching for the boy’s mother, Tora-san meets a cosmetics saleslady and the three become a surrogate family, with Tora-san as “daddy”.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shiretoko bojô
When his travels take him to rural Hokkaido, Tora-san helps a cantankerous old veterinarian (Mifune) in his relationships with his estranged daughter, and a woman in whom he is secretly interested.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shiawase no aoi tori
During his travels, Tora-san comes across a traditional theater he used to visit, and discovers that one of his old friends has died. Tora-san and his family help the friend's daughter, who becomes romantically involved with an aspiring artist.
Tokyo-Ga
German director Wim Wenders tries to explore the Tokyo that was depicted in the films of Yasujiro Ozu and finds a very different city.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô ren'ai juku
In Nagasaki, Tora-san and an acquaintance help an old woman who has fallen and injured herself. She invites them to her home where the three share a night of eating and drinking. The old woman's health deteriorates and she dies.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shibamata yori ai wo komete
Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san (1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima, and attempts to bring her back to her home.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Ranaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Yogiri ni musebu torajiro
In Shibamata, Tokyo, Tora-san's family prepares for a wedding. Meanwhile, the traveling Tora-san meets an old acqaintance in Iwate Province. Tora-san refuses to drink with him, afraid that the acquaintance, now settled and married, will again become attracted to Tora-san's wandering existence.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô shinjitsu ichiro
Tora-san spends several days at the home of a hard-working salaryman ("salaried worker"), who abruptly disappears. When the man's wife asks Tora-san to help find him, he falls in love with her, and secretly hopes the husband will not be found.
Osôshiki
When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Tabi to onna to Torajirô
Tora-san returns to his family home to learn that his brother-in-law cannot go to Mitsuo's (Tora-san's nephew) athletic event. Tora-san volunteers to take his place, but gets into an argument with his brother-in-law's boss and returns to the road. He meets a young woman in Niigata who, unbeknownst to him, is a popular enka singer.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Kuchibue wo fuku Torajirô
Tora-san visits brother-in-law Hiroshi's hometown to attend a memorial service for his late father. When the local temple priest becomes intoxicated, Tora-san wearing the priest's robe delivers the memorial speech, much to his family's surprise.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro ajisai no koi
During his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully comprehends his importance, the old man is a Living National Treasure ceramist. At his home, Tora-san makes a good impression on the old man's maid, who apparently falls in love with Tora-san.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Hana mo arashi mo Torajirô
Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kamifusen
Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Naniwa no koi no Torajirô
When his travels bring him to Osaka, Tora-san falls in love with a local geisha. He helps her to track down her estranged brother, and informs his family that he plans to marry her. His plans are foiled when the geisha informs Tora-san that she is engaged.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kamome uta
After a friend and business colleague dies, Tora-san visits the man's daughter, then takes her to Tokyo so she can study for a night school exam.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana
When cabaret singer Lily writes Toraya about her illness, Tora-san rushes to Okinawa to be by her side.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Uwasa no Torajirô
After 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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku
Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an inn where he meets Tomekichi, a young man who looks up to Tora-san.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô to tonosama
Tora-san befriends the descendant of a feudal lord. The man asks Tora to locate his deceased son's wife who resides somewhere in Tokyo.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro gambare!
Tora-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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô yûyake koyake
Tora-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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô junjô shishû
When 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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro aiaigasa
Tora-san visits Hokkaido and is reunited with Lily. Now divorced, she plans to resume her singing career and renews her unusual relationship with Tora-san.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Katsushika risshi hen
Tora-san is inspired to pursue an education after a visit to the grave of a woman he met years ago. When he returns to Shibamata with the intent to study, he falls for Toraya's new tenant instead.
Suna no utsuwa
Yoshitaro Nomura’s 1975 film of Seicho Matsumoto’s immensely popular detective story tells the tale of two detectives, Imanishi (Tetsuro Tamba) and Yoshimura (Kensaku Morita), tasked with tracking down the murderer of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a rail yard.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro komoriuta
After 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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro koiyatsure
After 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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro wasurenagusa
On the road again, Torajiro meets a kindred spirit in Lily, a lounge singer.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro yumemakura
When Tora-san returns to visit his family, he is surprised to find an arrogant professor occupying his room. The professor and Tora-san become rivals for the affection of Chiyo.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shibamata bojo
While Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.
Furusato
On a beautiful island in Seto Inner Sea, Seichi and Minko make their living by transporting rocks to construction sites by boat. They cherish the deepest affection for this piece of land they call home, and the simple life they lead.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro koiuta
Taking a message from Hiroshi's father to heart, Torajiro attempts to give up his wandering ways.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Junjô hen
Torajiro becomes homesick during his travels after watching a television report about his hometown and meeting a young woman that reminds him of his sister Sakura. Meanwhile, a new tenant moves into Toraya restaurant.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Funto hen
After a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.
Shin otoko wa tsurai yo
After winning big at the races, Torajiro Kuruma 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.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Fûten no Tora
Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Boukyou hen
After 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.
Kazoku
A poor family of miners from Kyushu uproot themselves and make the long journey to what they hope is a better life in Hokkaido. Their journey is beset with hardship and tragedy.
Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo
Kuruma Torajiro is discovered looking around Kyoto for someone special to him.
Otoko wa tsurai yo
Tora-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.
Nikudan
A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes.
Nihon no ichiban nagai hi
Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen.
Akahige
Set in feudal times, novice physician, Yuzo Kayama, is sent to a poor infirmary expecting just to visit, but is infuriated to learn he must stay. He tries to provoke his termination, but is foiled by head doctor "Red Beard" (Toshiro Mifune), a man whose methods are as caring as they are unpredictable.
Sanma no aji
Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.
Ogin-sama
The basic story in Love under the Crucifix is about Ogin, daughter of a tea master, who are both Christians in feudal Japan. Ogin falls in love with a feudal prince, also a Christian who is already married, and that creates problems. Further, when the Shogun bans Christianity, the situation worsens.
Sekai daisensô
The stories of Japanese civilians with the specter of a nuclear World War III looming.
Ningen no jôken (III)
The Japanese forces having been shattered, Kaji and some comrades embark on an epic journey on foot southward to where Kaji hopes to rejoin Michiko. After surviving many perils he is captured by the Red Army and subjected to treatment that echoes that meted out to the Chinese.
Kohayagawa-ke no aki
The Kohayakawa family is thrown into distress when childlike father Manbei takes up with his old mistress, in one of Ozu’s most deftly modulated blendings of comedy and tragedy.
Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru
A young executive hunts down his father’s killer. Continuing his legendary collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa combines elements of Hamlet and American film noir to chilling effect in exposing the corrupt boardrooms of postwar corporate Japan.
Ruten no ôhi
Pu Zhe, younger brother of the Emperor of Manchukuo, marries Ryuko, daughter of an aristocratic family. To the surprise of all, a deep love between Pu Zhe and Ryuko develops and is put to the test when Japan loses the war.
Musume tsuma haha
Sanae is left a widow after her prestigious husband dies, but holds the proceeds of a million yen insurance policy. Being childless, her former in-laws have no objection to her return to her own family.
Daibosatsu tôge
The Dai-bosatsu toge trilogy is based on Kaizan Nakazato's unfinished long series of novels (41 books, written from 1913 to 1941). Set in the last period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Daibosatsu Toge tells the story of Ryunosuke Tsukue, a nihilistic swordmaster who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone, bad or good.
Akibiyori
A widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends.
Ukikusa
A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.
Ohayô
Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.
Muhomatsu no issho
The story of Muhōmatsu, a rickshaw man who becomes a surrogate father to the child of a recently widowed woman.
Higanbana
Later in his career, Ozu started becoming increasingly sympathetic with the younger generation, a shift that was cemented in Equinox Flower, his gorgeously detailed first color film, about an old-fashioned father and his newfangled daughter.
Tôkyô boshoku
Two sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot take the truth of being abandoned as a child.
Soshun
A young salaryman and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he embarks on an extramarital affair.
Tsuki wa noborinu
Mokichi Asai is a widowed father living in Nara with three daughters—Chizuru, Ayako, and Setsuko. The youngest, Setsuko, plays matchmaker for her older sisters, leading to humorous and awkward romantic entanglements.
Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki
On the way back to his childhood home, a septuagenarian man recalls his childhood and adolescence, in particular his love for a young woman.
Nijushi no hitomi
Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world and their place in it, despite the fact that she knows full well that most of them will die in the war.
Tôkyô monogatari
An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
Karumen kokyô ni kaeru
A girl who had left her home village for life in Tokyo returns to her home years later, and evokes a scandal when the locals discover that she's a stripper.
Bakushû
A family chooses a match for their 28-year-old daughter Noriko, but she surprisingly has her own plans.
Banshun
Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life.
Kaze no naka no mendori
Tokiko patiently awaits her husband's return from WWII when her four-year old son falls ill. She takes him to the doctor but has no means of paying, so she resorts to prostitution. A month later, her husband returns to find his desperate wife, who tells him the truth. Together, they must deal with the consequences.
Nagaya shinshiroku
An errant salaryman's son gets lost until a man from the Tokyo tenements brings him to vendor Tane, who's reluctant to let the kid board.
Rikugun
Though plagued by ill health all his life, a young Japanese man is obligated to fulfill his family's longstanding military tradition.
Hana saku minato
The sweet but naive denizens of a charming port town are hoodwinked by a couple of con men at the outset of World War II. But the hustlers’ plan backfires when they come down with severe cases of conscience.
Chichi ariki
Shuhei Horikawa, a poor schoolteacher, struggles to raise his son Ryohei by himself, despite neither money nor prospects.
Todake no kyodai
After the death of her husband, Mrs Toda and her youngest daughter receive a frosty welcome from the extended family.
Kanzashi
A Japanese mountain inn patron's foot is cut by an ornamental hairpin accidentally left behind by a former patron, leading to much curiosity among the other patrons regarding her identity.
Ani to sono imôto
A man who works late hours at a deadening job lives together with his wife and his younger sister. The younger sister's a modern girl who's starting to receive romantic attention from one of her co-workers.
Kaze no naka no kodomo
On vacation's eve, a boy is sent to the countryside to live with his uncle after his father is imprisoned and accused of embezzlement.
Hitori musuko
A poor factory worker, visiting the Tokyo son she has skimped to educate, finds even a college degree doesn't make a difference in Depression era Japan.
Tôkyô no yado
An unemployed Japanese man and his two sons wander the industrial flatlands of Depression-era Tokyo, until he chances upon an old friend and befriends a woman and her daughter, who are in a similar predicament.
Ukikusa monogatari
An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.
Kagirinaki hodo
Mikio Naruse’s final silent film is a gloriously rich portrait of a waitress, Sugiko, whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a suffocatingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car.
Tôkyô no onna
Ryoichi and Chikako, brother and sister, live together. Chikako toils during the day and, at night, prostitutes herself to fund his college tuition.
Hijosen no onna
A gangster tries to find redemption with the inadvertent help of an innocent shop girl and his jealous girlfriend will do anything to keep him.
Dekigokoro
In Depression-era Tokyo, a struggling middle-aged single father with a young son comes across a homeless young lady and convinces a bar owner to take her in.
Seishun no yume ima izuko
Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda scripts a subtle shift from light to dark as Hirano’s carefree college life is marred by tragedy.
Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo
Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Ozu's charming film is a social satire that draws from the antics of childhood as well as the tragedy of maturity.
Sono yo no tsuma
The film revolves around a desperate man who commits a crime in order to support his family, and the moral dilemma the policeman who tracks him down finds himself in.
Rakudai wa shitakeredo
After the plans of a group of college students to cheat on their final exams goes awry, they're left to reassess their lives and educations and get back on track.