aka Torasan's Journey with a Lady is a 1983

1983 in film

-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...

 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 Harumi Miyako

Harumi Miyako

is a Japanese singer of enka.Born Harumi Kitamura in Kyoto, she made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: She makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen and has acted in a number of films....

 as his love interest or "Madonna". Tora-san's Song of Love is the thirty-first 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 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.

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
• Harumi Miyako
  Harumi Miyako
  is a Japanese singer of enka.Born Harumi Kitamura in Kyoto, she made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: She makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular Kōhaku Uta Gassen and has acted in a number of films....
  
   as Harumi Kyo
• Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• 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
• Chishū Ryū
  Chishu Ryu
  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 and Yoshitaro Nomura's Castle of Sand...
  
   as Gozen-sama
• Takura Fujioka as Kitamura
• Senri Sakurai as Mita
• Bengal as Yoshioka
• Noko Konoha as Tomiko
• Chieko Nakakita as Hisako Shōji

Critical appraisal

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:...

considers Tora-san's Song of Love to be a minor entry in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Song of Love three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

Tora-san's Song of Love was released theatrically on August 6, 1983. In Japan, the film has been released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 2002 and 2008.

External links

• Tora-san's Song of Love at www.tora-san.jp (Official site)