is a 1993 Japanese comedy film directed by

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

. It stars

Kiyoshi Atsumi Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美清 ''Atsumi Kiyoshi''), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所康雄 ''Tadokoro Yasuo'', 10 March 1928 – 4 August 1996), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Tokyo, and started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show the ...

as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in film ...

as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san's Matchmaker'' is the forty-sixth entry in the popular, long-running ''

Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as , 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 ' ...

'' series.

Cast

as Torajirō *

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 from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won ...

as Sakura *

as Yoko Sakaide *

Hidetaka Yoshioka is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Coto's Clinic. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared ...

as Mitsuo Suwa * Shimojo Masami as Tatsuzō Kuruma * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajirō's aunt) * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) * Gajirō Satō as Genkō * Keiroku Seki as Ponshū

Critical appraisal

For their work in ''Tora-san's Matchmaker'', the Japan Academy Prize awarded

for Best Director and Screenplay, Yoshitaka Asama for Best Screenplay, and Isao Suzuki for Best Sound. Also nominated at the Japan Academy Prize were Yutaka Yokoyama and Mitsuo Degawa for Best Sound and Iwao Ishii for Best Editing. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san's Matchmaker'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san's Matchmaker'' was released theatrically on December 25, 1993. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1994 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2000 and 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san's Matchmaker''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) 1993 films 1993 comedy films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1990s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Japanese sequel films 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub