is a 1991 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 Hideko Yoshida as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san Confesses'' is the forty-fourth 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 *

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 (Sakura's son) *

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 Izumi Oikawa (Mitsuo's girlfriend) * Hideko Yoshida as Seikō * Shimojo Masami as Kuruma Tatsuzō * Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajirō's aunt) * Hisao Dazai as Boss (Umetarō Katsura) * Gajirō Satō as Genkō * Keiroku Seki as Ponshū

Critical appraisal

Series Director

and Yoshitaka Asama were nominated for Best Screenplay at the Japan Academy Prize for their work on ''Tora-san Confesses''. Other nominations for the film at the ceremony were Mitsuo Degawa for Best Art Direction and Isao Suzuki and Takashi Matsumoto for Best Sound. 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 entry "is a charmer, full of the sentiment, humor and compassion that made the Tora-san movies always the most popular attraction" at Japanese language cinemas in Los Angeles. The German-language site molodezhnaja gives ''Tora-san Confesses'' three out of five stars.

Availability

''Tora-san Confesses'' was released theatrically on December 23, 1991. In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1992 and 1996, and in DVD format in 2000 and 2005.

References

Bibliography

English

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German

Japanese

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External links

''Tora-san Confesses''
at www.tora-san.jp (official site) * 1991 films Films directed by Yoji Yamada 1991 comedy films 1990s Japanese-language films Otoko wa Tsurai yo films Japanese sequel films Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada Films set in Tottori Prefecture 1990s Japanese films {{1990s-Japan-film-stub