''aka'' ''Torasan Goes to Hisbiscus Land'' is a 1980 Japanese

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

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's Tropical Fever'' is the twenty-fifth 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. Shochiku theatrically released a Special Edition version to theaters in 1997. It used computer graphics to add Hidetaka Yoshioka (who played Tora-san's nephew in the later films) to the story in added scenes.

Plot

Lily, the lounge singer with whom Tora-san fell in love in film 11 ('' Tora-san's Forget Me Not'', 1973) and film 15 ('' Tora-san's Rise and Fall'', 1975) sends Tora-san a letter informing him that she is terminally ill. Tora-san rushes to Okinawa—taking his first plane trip in the process—to be at her side and nurse her to health.

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 th ...

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 *

Chieko Misaki Chieko (written: , , , , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese sprint canoeist *, blind Japanese computer scientist *, Japanese actress and singer *, Japanese voice actress and singer *, Japanes ...

as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt) *

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 *

Hisao Dazai Hisao (written: 央生, 久生, 久雄, 寿雄, 寿夫, 尚雄, 尚久 or 尚勇) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese government official *, Japanese baseball player *, Japa ...

as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) * Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa * Gajirō Satō as Genkō * Suzuko Aragaki as Kaori Yamazato

Critical appraisal

Writer-director

reportedly considers ''Tora's Tropical Fever'' his own favorite of the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series films. The

Japan Academy The Japan Academy (Japanese: 日本学士院, ''Nihon Gakushiin'') is an honorary organisation and science academy founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is c ...

awarded Yamada and co-writer Yoshitaka Asama Best Screenplay for the film.

was also given the Best Actress award, and

was nominated for Best Actor at the ceremony. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora's Tropical Fever'' four out of five stars, naming it one of the highlights of the series.

Stuart Galbraith IV Stuart Eugene Galbraith IV (born December 29, 1965) is an American film historian, film critic, essayist, and audio commentator. Early life and education Raised in Livonia, Michigan, Galbraith first worked professionally as a film reviewer and ...

judges the film "one of the best of the series", and a "delight in every respect: it's funny, sad, and perceptive about human nature".

Availability

''Tora-san's Tropical Fever'' was released theatrically on August 2, 1980. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996 and 1998, and in DVD format in 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

* * * *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora's Tropical Fever''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) {{Yoji Yamada 1980 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1980 comedy films 1980s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Films set in Okinawa Prefecture 1980s Japanese films