aka Torasan, From Shibamata with Love is a 1985

1985 in film

-Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie...

 Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada

Yoji Yamada

is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ....

. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....

 as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Komaki Kurihara as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san's Island Encounter is the thirty-sixth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans...

series.

Synopsis

Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san

Marriage Counselor Tora-san

is a 1984 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma , and Rie Nakahara as his love interest or "Madonna". Marriage Counselor Tora-san is the thirty-third entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.-Synopsis:In Shibamata, Tokyo,...

(1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima

Shikinejima

is a volcanic Japanese island in the Philippine Sea, administered by Tōkyō and located approximately south of Tōkyō and south of Shimoda Shizuoka Prefecture. It is one of the of the Izu Seven Islands group of the seven northern islands of the Izu archipelago...

, and attempts to bring her back to her home. In doing so he encounters a school-reunion group who are traveling to meet their elementary school teacher. Tora-san joins them and falls in love with the teacher.

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi
  Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....
  
   as Torajirō
• Chieko Baishō
  Chieko Baisho
  is a Japanese actress and singer.In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series . In addition, she has acted in most films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s...
  
   as Sakura
• Komaki Kurihara
  Komaki Kurihara
  is a Japanese film actress. She has appeared in 30 films since 1967. She starred in the 1974 film Sandakan No. 8, which was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* Tora-san's Grand Scheme...
  
   as Machiko
• Jun Miho as Akemi
• Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hidetaka Yoshioka
  Hidetaka Yoshioka
  ', is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Koto Shinryojo. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared in Akira Kurosawa's "Rhapsody in August" and...
  
   as Mitsuo Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō

Critical appraisal

Nominations for Tora-san's Island Encounter at the Japan Academy Prize included Best Actor (Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi

Kiyoshi Atsumi , born Yasuo Tadokoro , was a Japanese film actor....

), Best Director (Yoji Yamada

Yoji Yamada

is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ....

), Best Music Score (Naozumi Yamamoto), Best Sound (Isao Suzuki and Takashi Matsumoto, Best Supporting Actress (Jun Miho), and Best Art Direction (Mitsuo Degawa). Stuart Galbraith IV

Stuart Galbraith IV

Stuart Galbraith IV is an American cinema historian, film critic, and DVD special features producer, essayist, and audio commentator.-Early life and education:...

 judges the film an entertaining, but not outstanding entry in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa Tsurai yo

Otoko wa tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "Tora-san" by its fans...

series. The film gains when seen as a satire of Keisuke Kinoshita

Keisuke Kinoshita

was a Japanese film director.Although lesser known internationally than his fellow filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa , Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu , Keisuke Kinoshita was nonetheless a household figure at home beloved by audience and critics alike, especially in the forties through the sixties...

's Twenty-Four Eyes

Twenty-Four Eyes

, based on the novel by Sakae Tsuboi, is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita.-Synopsis:The movie follows the career of a schoolteacher named Ōishi in Shōdoshima during the rise and fall of Japanese ultra-nationalism in the beginning of the Shōwa period...

(1954)
The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Island Encounter four out of five stars, naming it one of the highlights of the series.

Availability

Tora-san's Island Encounter was released theatrically on December 28, 1985. In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1987 and 1996, and in DVD format in 1998, 2005 and 2008.

External links

• Tora-san's Island Encounter at www.tora-san.jp (Official site)