''aka'' ''Torasan, Remind Shiretoke'' is a 1987 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), Keiko Takeshita as the film's "Madonna", and

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...

as Takeshita's father. ''Tora-san Goes North'' is the thirty-eighth 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

When his travels take him to rural Hokkaido, Tora-san helps a cantankerous old veterinarian (Mifune) in his relationships with his estranged daughter, and a woman in whom he is secretly interested.

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 *

Keiko Takeshita Keiko Takeshita (竹下景子 ''Takeshita Keiko''; born on September 15, 1953 in Higashi-ku, Nagoya, Japan) is a Japanese actress. She starred in the Japanese version of '' From Up on Poppy Hill'' as Hana Matsuzaki. Filmography Film *'' Blue Ch ...

as Rinko *

as Junkichi Ueno *

Keiko Awaji was a Japanese film actress. Notable highlights of her career were an appearance in Akira Kurosawa's '' Stray Dog'', and a role as Kimiko in ''The Bridges at Toko-Ri'', in which she appeared alongside William Holden and Mickey Rooney. Her firs ...

as Etsuko * Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō * Chieko Misaki 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 *

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 * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) *

Jun Miho Jun or JUN may refer to: People and anthroponymy * Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name * Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS * Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer * A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...

as Akemi * Gajirō Satō as Genkō *

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 southe ...

as Gozen-sama * Issei Ogata as The doctor

Critical appraisal

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...

was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Japan Academy Prize for his role in ''Tora-san Goes North''. He won awards for Best Supporting Actor 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 ...

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, ...

ceremonies. Keiko Awaji was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Japan Academy Prize.

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 ...

writes that ''Tora-san Goes North'' is "funny, charming, and ultimately quite moving". The film unites Mifune and

who had appeared together forty years earlier in Kurosawa's ''

Stray Dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...

'' (1949). Noting that Mifune rarely found a good part in the last two decades of his career, Galbraith judges ''Tora-san Goes North'' to be "an utterly charming film that gives the great actor one of his last good roles." 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 Un ...

states that this entry in the series is a "little tougher-minded and a little less sentimental than usual, which is all to the good" and that Yamada had "created a role ideal for Mifune." The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san Goes North'' three and a half out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san Goes North'' was released theatrically on August 15, 1987. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1996, and in DVD format in 1997, 2002, and 2008.

References

Bibliography

English

* * * *

German

Japanese

* * * *

External links

''Tora-san Goes North''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) {{Mainichi Film Award for Excellence Film 1987 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1987 comedy films 1980s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films Films set in Gifu Prefecture Films set in Hokkaido Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada 1980s Japanese films