• 1969’s It’s Tough Being a Man, the 1st film in the series (a revival of a short-lived TV show) that largely sets the tone. Although Tora-san is a violent drunk early on this is, thankfully, moved on from.
• 1970’s Tora-san’s Runaway, originally intended to be the 5th and final film in the series. I wonder if they realized they’d spend the rest of their lives making these after changing their mind about that?
• 1972’s Tora-san’s Dear Old Home, 9th film and the beginning of what I consider the peak era, symbolized by the high quality and that this is when the opening film homages / satires begin. This is the first time we get a new actor as Tora’s Uncle after the passing of the previous one.
• 1973’s Tora-san’s Forget Me Not, 11th film and the first of many appearances of Lily, a lounge singer portrayed by Ruriko Asaoka, who is unique among his love interests in that she’s just as bawdy, independent, and filled with wanderlust as good ol Tora-san.
• 1974’s Tora-san’s Lullaby, 14th film, passing of the torch to a third and final uncle.
• 1976’s Tora-san’s Sunrise and Sunset, 17th film and one of my favorites, but especially notable because it opens with a hilarious sendup of the film Jaws. A couple of years later they do another Spielberg homage for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
• 1977’s Tora-san Plays Cupid, 20th film and the first one that was truly awful. Apparently 20 films in is when they decided explosions and suicide would be fitting to add to the series. Did not work.
• 1979’s Tora-san’s Dream of Spring, 24th film and a fascinating entry in that a guest character is an American salesman who comes to live with the family, leading to very serious culture clashing.
• 1980’s Tora-san’s Tropical Fever, 25th film and third appearance of the wonderful Lily, this one is also interesting for shooting on location in Okinawa.
• 1980’s Foster Daddy, Tora! 26th film and sadly exhibits a dip in quality that signals that the classic peak Tora-san era has ended.
• 1981’s Tora-san’s Love in Osaka, 27th film and the first appearance of Hidetaka Yoshioka as Tora-san’s nephew Mitsuo (previous depicted by numerous child actors), a grave portent of things to come.
• 1983’s Tora-san’s Song of Love, 31st film and while not a bad film, surely a shark has been jumped because it felt like half the running time was given to love interest Harumi Miyako, mostly going by her real name as an enka singer. Tora-san’s Variety Show, more like.
• 1985’s Tora-san’s Island Encounter, 36th film and where you start seeing Tora-san taking a back seat more and more often while the plots start to drift into being about other people. Also when Tora-san mostly stops romantically pursuing women with any serious intent.
• 1987’s Tora-san Goes North, 38th film and notable because legendary actor Toshiro Mifune appears. He is believably gruff and taciturn as a man dealing with an estranged relationship with his daughter.
• 1989’s Tora-san Goes to Vienna, 41st film and holy cow, he actually went to Vienna! Just like the movie title says! Much hilarity ensues. Probably the last great entry in the franchise.
• 1989’s Tora-san, My Uncle, 42nd film and the beginning of the painful Mitsuo era, where Tora-san’s nephew begins taking over the films and I begin faltering, both spiritually and emotionally.
• 1990’s Tora-san Takes a Vacation, 43rd film and when they begin only releasing one film a year instead of two (most likely due to Atsumi’s worsening health), and, coincidentally, around the time my Mitsuo fatigue got the better of me and I took a few weeks off of Tora-san myself.
• 1995’s Tora-san to the Rescue, 48th film and last film of the series in which Atsumi was alive to portray the character. Also, the fourth and final appearance of Lily.
• 1997’s Tora-san’s Tropical Fever Special Edition, 49th film and literally just a nostalgic rerelease of the 25th film with a Mitsuo framing device, an unfortunate end to a wonderful series.

Tora-san Film Project