is a 1989 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

Kumiko Goto is a Japanese former singer, actress and Japanese idol active in the 1980s. As an actress, she is known for starring in the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' films and the Jackie Chan film ''City Hunter''. In 1995, she quit her artistic career and marr ...

as his nephew's love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san, My Uncle'' is the 42nd 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 *

Fumi Dan (born June 5, 1954) is a Japanese actress. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 17th Japan Academy Prize for her role in ''Bloom in the Moonlight''. Her father is the novelist Kazuo Dan and she herself has won awards for her ess ...

as Hisako * Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt) * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) * Gajirō Satō as Genkō *

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 *

as Izumi Oikawa (Mitsuo's girlfriend) *

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 *

Chishū Ryū was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions. Early life Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, the most south ...

as Gozen-sama

Critical appraisal

Hidetaka Yoshioka was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Japan Academy Prize for his role in ''Tora-san, My Uncle''. He won this title at the Nikkan Sports Film Award ceremony.

was nominated for Best Actress at the Japan Academy Prize. Kevin Thomas of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

wrote that "This Tora-san, like all the others, in its depiction of warm family life and natural beauty, exudes a strong nostalgic pull for a Japan that was more spacious, beautiful and personal than it is today." The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san, My Uncle'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san, My Uncle'' was released theatrically on December 27, 1989. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 1998, 2005, and 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

* *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san, My Uncle''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) {{Yoji Yamada 1989 films 1989 comedy films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1980s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada 1980s Japanese films