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Tora-san Series

Otoko wa Tsurai yo (男はつらいよ, "It's tough being a man") is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" (寅さん), a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, all of the Otoko wa tsurai yo films except episodes 3 (Azuma Morisaki) and 4 (Shun'ichi Kobayashi) were directed by Yōji Yamada, who also wrote (or co-wrote) all the screenplays.

50 movies 1969 – 2019 85h 12m total 14 snapshots 106 solvers

Movies in this collection

Otoko wa tsurai yo
Otoko wa tsurai yo

Otoko wa tsurai yo

1969 1h 31m Dir. Yoji Yamada
1

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.

Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo
Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo

Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo

1969 1h 33m Dir. Yoji Yamada
1

Kuruma Torajiro is discovered looking around Kyoto for someone special to him.

Shin otoko wa tsurai yo
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: Boukyou hen
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Junjô hen
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: Shibamata bojo
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro yumemakura
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: Watashi no tora-san
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Watashi no tora-san

Tora-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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro koiyatsure
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 komoriuta
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 aiaigasa
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
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô yûyake koyake
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
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: Torajirô to tonosama
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!
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: Torajiro wagamichi wo yuku
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: Uwasa no Torajirô
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: Torajirô haru no yume
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô haru no yume

Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana
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: Torajiro kamome uta
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: Naniwa no koi no Torajirô
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 kamifusen
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: Torajiro ajisai no koi
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
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: Tabi to onna to Torajirô
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
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: Yogiri ni musebu torajiro
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
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajirô ren'ai juku
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
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shiawase no aoi tori
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Shiretoko bojô
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: Torajiro monogatari
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: Torajiro sarada kinenbi
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kokoro no tabiji
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
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 no kyuujitsu
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 no kokuhaku
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.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no seishun
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 endan
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro no endan

After failing to find a job, Mitsuo becomes a fisherman on a small island, and develops a crush on a young nurse there. Tora-san, dispatched to bring Mitsuo back home, himself falls in love with an attractive but troubled woman visiting her father.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Haikei, Kuruma Torajiro sama
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Haikei, Kuruma Torajiro sama

Mitsuo, unhappy in his new job as a shoe salesman, is invited to a festival and is introduced to a friend’s sister. Tora-san meanwhile helps an injured housewife on her yearly vacation.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kurenai no hana
Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro kurenai no hana

Tora-san works hard to bring together his nephew, Mitsuo, and Mitsuo’s girlfriend who is engaged to someone else.

Otoko wa tsurai yo: Torajiro haibisukasu no hana tokubetsu-hen
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 50: Okaeri Tora-san
Otoko wa tsurai yo 50: Okaeri Tora-san

The 50th film in Tora-san series, using the old footages and newly shot scenes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series. The adult Mitsuo, Tora-san’s nephew, who runs into Izumi, his first love, whom he had once promised to marry. The familiar faces of Kurumaya Cafe, which Tora-san’s family ran in Shibamata, also return.

Snapshots from this collection

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