''aka'' ''Tora-san Finds a Sweetheart'', ''Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again'' and ''Torasan: Love Under the Umbrella'' is a 1975 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

Ruriko Asaoka , born 2 July 1940 in Xinjing, Manchukuo (now Changchun, Jilin, China), is a Japanese actress. She won the Medal with Purple Ribbon (2002) and Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2011). She married actor Koji Ishizaka in 1 ...

as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san's Rise and Fall'' is the fifteenth 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.

Synopsis

Tora-san meets an old girlfriend on his travels. When she returns home with him, his family attempts to arrange a marriage between the two. After a misunderstanding occurs, the woman leaves, and the family is left regretting that they interfered.

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 Lily *

Masami Shimojō was a Japanese film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films. Career Hoping to become a film director, Shimojō traveled to Tokyo in 1935 but ended up joining a theater troupe, debuting on stage in 1936. He made his film debut in 194 ...

as Kuruma Tatsuzō *

Gin Maeda (born February 21, 1944) is a Japanese actor. He had a regular role in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films, beginning with the first in the series (1969), as Sakura's husband. Filmography Film *''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series (1969–2019), Hiroshi S ...

as Hiroshi Suwa * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt) * Hisao Dazai as Manager * Gajirō Satō as Genkō * Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa * Yoshio Yoshida as Slave trader *

Tsunehiko Kamijō is a Japanese singer, actor and voice actor. Filmography Live-action films *''Tora-san's Lullaby'' (1974) – Yatarō Ōkawa *''Tora-san's Rise and Fall'' (1975) – A pirate *''Death of a Tea Master'' (1989) – Yamanoue Sōji *''The Mourner ...

as Pirate *

Masakane Yonekura Masakane Yonekura ( ja, 米倉斉加年; 7 October 1934 – 26 August 2014) was a Japanese stage director, actor, author and illustrator who was one of the central members of the Gekidan Mingei theatre company. Death On 26 August 2014, Yonekura ...

as Pirate

Critical appraisal

At the

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

was given the Best Actress prize and

the Best Supporting Actress prize for their roles in ''Tora-san's Rise and Fall''. Asaoka was also named Best Actress at the

Kinema Junpo Award , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

s and the

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

s. Mainichi also awarded Kiminobu Satō for Best Art Direction on this film and on ''Harakara''. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san's Rise and Fall'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san's Rise and Fall'' was released theatrically on August 2, 1975. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2005 and 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

* * *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san's Rise and Fall''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site)
Trailer
with English subtitles {{Yoji Yamada 1975 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1975 comedy films 1970s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Films set in Aomori Prefecture Films set in Hakodate Films set in Otaru 1970s Japanese films