The Couch Critic Logo
The Couch CriticCouch Critic
TrendingMoviesTV ShowsListsReviewsWhat to Watch
LogoThe Couch Critic

Menu

TrendingMoviesTV ShowsListsReviewsWhat to Watch

© 2026 The Couch Critic

The Couch Critic Logo

The Couch Critic

Your go-to destination for honest movie and TV show reviews from a passionate community of critics. Join the conversation today.

X

Explore

  • Trending
  • Movies
  • TV Shows
  • Reviews
  • Lists
  • Games
  • About Us

Categories

  • Popular Movies
  • Trending Now
  • Upcoming
  • Airing Today
  • Movie Genres
  • TV Genres

Community

  • Guides
  • What to Watch

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Cookie Policy
  • RSS Feed
© 2026 The Couch Critic.•Built by Hayden Thorn
Cookie Settings
The Movie Database

This application uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.

Tora-san Series
Tora-san Series
  1. Movies
  2. Tora-san Series

Tora-san Series

Collection
50 Movies
1969 - 2019

Otoko wa Tsurai yo (男はつらいよ, "It's tough being a man") is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as "Tora-san" (寅さん), 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 Otoko wa tsurai yo films except episodes 3 (Azuma Morisaki) and 4 (Shun'ichi Kobayashi) were directed by Yōji Yamada, who also wrote (or co-wrote) all the screenplays.

Movies in this Collection

Sorted by:
Release Date (Ascending)
1
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp

Aug 27, 1969

Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting and ruining Sakura's chance to marry someone, as well as just being a real pain to those around him. There is a sentimental side to him also, and the best way to describe him is that he grows on you.

View Details
2
Tora-san's Cherished Mother

Tora-san's Cherished Mother

Nov 14, 1969

Kuruma Torajiro is discovered looking around Kyoto for someone special to him.

View Details
3
Tora-san, His Tender Love

Tora-san, His Tender Love

Jan 15, 1970

Traveling salesman Kuruma Torajirō falls in love with an inn manager as New Year's approaches.

View Details
4
Tora-san's Grand Scheme

Tora-san's Grand Scheme

Feb 26, 1970

After winning big at the races, Torajiro Kuruma wants to take his aunt and uncle on a trip to Hawaii to partly pay the great filial debt he feels he owes them, but the plan hits a snag. Also, a pretty kindergarten teacher rents a room at Toraya.

View Details
5
Tora-san's Runaway

Tora-san's Runaway

Aug 26, 1970

After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to change his vagrant lifestyle and become an honest worker with a steady job.

View Details
6
Tora-san's Shattered Romance

Tora-san's Shattered Romance

Jan 15, 1971

Torajiro becomes homesick during his travels after watching a television report about his hometown and meeting a young woman that reminds him of his sister Sakura. Meanwhile, a new tenant moves into Toraya restaurant.

View Details
7
Tora-san, the Good Samaritan

Tora-san, the Good Samaritan

Apr 28, 1971

After a quarrel with his mother, Torajiro sets off to find a bride.

View Details
8
Tora-san's Love Call

Tora-san's Love Call

Dec 29, 1971

Taking a message from Hiroshi's father to heart, Torajiro attempts to give up his wandering ways.

View Details
9
Tora-san's Dear Old Home

Tora-san's Dear Old Home

Aug 5, 1972

While Sakura and Hiroshi struggle to save funds to build a house, Torajiro befriends three young women on vacation during his travels.

View Details
10
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True

Tora-san's Dream-Come-True

Dec 29, 1972

When Tora-san returns to visit his family, he is surprised to find an arrogant professor occupying his room. The professor and Tora-san become rivals for the affection of Chiyo.

View Details
11
Tora-san's Forget Me Not

Tora-san's Forget Me Not

Jan 4, 1973

On the road again, Torajiro meets a kindred spirit in Lily, a lounge singer.

View Details
12
Tora-san Loves an Artist

Tora-san Loves an Artist

Dec 25, 1973

Tora-San returns to Shibamata just before his family leaves on a trip for Kyushu. Later, he encounters an old school chum and begins to have feeling for his artist sister.

View Details
13
Tora-san's Lovesick

Tora-san's Lovesick

Aug 10, 1974

After Torajiro's latest attempt to find a bride goes awry, he starts traveling again and runs into Utako (last seen in Tora-san's Dear Old Home), now a widow.

View Details
14
Tora-san's Lullaby

Tora-san's Lullaby

Dec 28, 1974

After Hiroshi is injured in a workplace accident, Torajiro gives Sakura the money he has saved and leaves to work as a traveling salesman once again. During his travels, Torajiro meets a father who shares a drink with him. In the morning, Torajiro is shocked to learn that the man has left his baby behind and a note asking Tora to take care of the child.

View Details
15
Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again

Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again

Aug 19, 1975

Tora-san visits Hokkaido and is reunited with Lily. Now divorced, she plans to resume her singing career and renews her unusual relationship with Tora-san.

View Details
16
Tora-san, the Intellectual

Tora-san, the Intellectual

Dec 27, 1975

Tora-san is inspired to pursue an education after a visit to the grave of a woman he met years ago. When he returns to Shibamata with the intent to study, he falls for Toraya's new tenant instead.

View Details
17
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset

Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset

Jul 23, 1976

Tora-san arrives in Shibamata on Mitsuo's first day of school only to find that on his account, Mitsuo was embarrassed. After a fight with his family, he goes to a bar to drink, then brings home a surly old man with a sad story, whose identity will surprise everyone. Later, Tora meets Botan, a geisha.

View Details
18
Tora-san's Pure Love

Tora-san's Pure Love

Dec 25, 1976

When Tora-san's infatuation with his nephew's school teacher causes family turmoil, he leaves on his travels again. When he returns, he falls in love with the teacher's mother.

View Details
19
Tora-san Meets His Lordship

Tora-san Meets His Lordship

Aug 6, 1977

Tora-san befriends the descendant of a feudal lord. The man asks Tora to locate his deceased son's wife who resides somewhere in Tokyo.

View Details
20
Tora-san Plays Cupid

Tora-san Plays Cupid

Dec 24, 1977

Tora-san becomes friends with Toraya's newest tenant, a pachinko-playing electrician that goes by the nickname Watt. Tora attempts to match Watt with a young waitress.

View Details
21
Stage-Struck Tora-san

Stage-Struck Tora-san

Aug 5, 1978

Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an inn where he meets Tomekichi, a young man who looks up to Tora-san.

View Details
22
Talk of the Town Tora-san

Talk of the Town Tora-san

Dec 27, 1978

After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.

View Details
23
Tora-san, the Matchmaker

Tora-san, the Matchmaker

Aug 4, 1979

Tora-san helps out a runaway bride.

View Details
24
Tora-san's Dream of Spring

Tora-san's Dream of Spring

Dec 28, 1979

Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.

View Details
25
Tora-san's Tropical Fever

Tora-san's Tropical Fever

Aug 2, 1980

When cabaret singer Lily writes Toraya about her illness, Tora-san rushes to Okinawa to be by her side.

View Details
26
Foster Daddy, Tora!

Foster Daddy, Tora!

Dec 27, 1980

After a friend and business colleague dies, Tora-san visits the man's daughter, then takes her to Tokyo so she can study for a night school exam.

View Details
27
Tora-san's Love in Osaka

Tora-san's Love in Osaka

Aug 8, 1981

When his travels bring him to Osaka, Tora-san falls in love with a local geisha. He helps her to track down her estranged brother, and informs his family that he plans to marry her. His plans are foiled when the geisha informs Tora-san that she is engaged.

View Details
28
Tora-san's Promise

Tora-san's Promise

Dec 28, 1981

Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.

View Details
29
Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san

Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san

Aug 7, 1982

During his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully comprehends his importance, the old man is a Living National Treasure ceramist. At his home, Tora-san makes a good impression on the old man's maid, who apparently falls in love with Tora-san.

View Details
30
Tora-san, the Expert

Tora-san, the Expert

Dec 28, 1982

Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.

View Details
31
Tora-san's Song of Love

Tora-san's Song of Love

Aug 6, 1983

Tora-san returns to his family home to learn that his brother-in-law cannot go to Mitsuo's (Tora-san's nephew) athletic event. Tora-san volunteers to take his place, but gets into an argument with his brother-in-law's boss and returns to the road. He meets a young woman in Niigata who, unbeknownst to him, is a popular enka singer.

View Details
32
Tora-san Goes Religious?

Tora-san Goes Religious?

Dec 28, 1983

Tora-san visits brother-in-law Hiroshi's hometown to attend a memorial service for his late father. When the local temple priest becomes intoxicated, Tora-san wearing the priest's robe delivers the memorial speech, much to his family's surprise. Thinking he's found his true calling, Tora-san decides to join the order, and falls for the priest's divorced daughter.

View Details
33
Marriage Counselor Tora-san

Marriage Counselor Tora-san

Aug 4, 1984

In Shibamata, Tokyo, Tora-san's family prepares for a wedding. Meanwhile, the traveling Tora-san meets an old acqaintance in Iwate Province. Tora-san refuses to drink with him, afraid that the acquaintance, now settled and married, will again become attracted to Tora-san's wandering existence. Tora-san becomes attracted to a female barber, but must break off their relationship so that she too can live a secure life. She instead gets into an abusive relationship with a motorcyclist.

View Details
34
Tora-san's Forbidden Love

Tora-san's Forbidden Love

Dec 28, 1984

Tora-san spends several days at the home of a hard-working salaryman ("salaried worker"), who abruptly disappears. When the man's wife asks Tora-san to help find him, he falls in love with her, and secretly hopes the husband will not be found.

View Details
35
Tora-san, the Go-Between

Tora-san, the Go-Between

Aug 3, 1985

In Nagasaki, Tora-san and an acquaintance help an old woman who has fallen and injured herself. She invites them to her home where the three share a night of eating and drinking. The old woman's health deteriorates and she dies. At her funeral, Tora-san falls in love with the old woman's daughter, but winds up acting as a go-between for her and a young law student.

View Details
36
Tora-san's Island Encounter

Tora-san's Island Encounter

Dec 28, 1985

Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san (1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima, and attempts to bring her back to her home. In doing so he encounters a school-reunion group who are traveling to meet their elementary school teacher, which is a reference to the film Twenty-Four Eyes by Keisuke Kinoshita. Tora-san joins them and falls in love with the teacher.

View Details
37
Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy

Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy

Dec 20, 1986

During his travels, Tora-san comes across a traditional theater he used to visit, and discovers that one of his old friends has died. Tora-san and his family help the friend's daughter, who becomes romantically involved with an aspiring artist.

View Details
38
Tora-san Goes North

Tora-san Goes North

Aug 15, 1987

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.

View Details
39
Tora-san Plays Daddy

Tora-san Plays Daddy

Dec 26, 1987

A playboy-gambler friend of Tora-san’s dies and, abandoned by his mother, his little boy suddenly turns up in Shibamata. Searching for the boy’s mother, Tora-san meets a cosmetics saleslady and the three become a surrogate family, with Tora-san as “daddy”.

View Details
40
Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial

Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial

Dec 24, 1988

In his travels through Japan, Tora-san meets and falls in love with a female doctor, however he is afraid of committing to a relationship.

View Details
41
Tora-san Goes to Vienna

Tora-san Goes to Vienna

Aug 5, 1989

During his wandering throughout Japan, Tora-san meets a suicidal man. He travels with the man to Vienna, but winds up homesick for Japan.

View Details
42
Tora-san, My Uncle

Tora-san, My Uncle

Dec 27, 1989

Tora-san's nephew Mitsuo is exchanging letters with Izumi, a former classmate whose parents divorced and took her out of Tokyo.

View Details
43
Tora-san Takes a Vacation

Tora-san Takes a Vacation

Dec 22, 1990

Mitsuo goes to Nagoya to visit Izumi, whose father left Izumi’s sad, bar hostess mother for another woman, so together they decide to confront him in Oita. Meanwhile, Izumi’s mother befriends Tora-san and together they travel to Oita to meet them, with Tora-san quickly falling for her en route.

View Details
44
Tora-san Confesses

Tora-san Confesses

Dec 23, 1991

When Izumi can't stand seeing her mother flirt with other men, she leaves home. She sends a letter to Mitsuo and Mitsuo goes looking for her. But Izumi unexpectedly meets Tora-san.

View Details
45
Tora-san Makes Excuses

Tora-san Makes Excuses

Dec 26, 1992

Tora befriends a pretty barbershop owner and runs into Izumi. When Tora twists his ankle, Mitsuo comes to care for him and see Izumi. Meanwhile, Izumi must choose between her new job in Tokyo and returning to Nagoya to care for her mother.

View Details
46
Tora-san's Matchmaker

Tora-san's Matchmaker

Dec 25, 1993

After failing to find a job, Mitsuo becomes a fisherman on a small island, and develops a crush on a young nurse there. Tora-san, dispatched to bring Mitsuo back home, himself falls in love with an attractive but troubled woman visiting her father.

View Details
47
Tora-san's Easy Advice

Tora-san's Easy Advice

Dec 23, 1994

Mitsuo, unhappy in his new job as a shoe salesman, is invited to a festival and is introduced to a friend’s sister. Tora-san meanwhile helps an injured housewife on her yearly vacation.

View Details
48
Tora-san to the Rescue

Tora-san to the Rescue

Dec 23, 1995

Tora-san works hard to bring together his nephew, Mitsuo, and Mitsuo’s girlfriend who is engaged to someone else.

View Details
49
Tora-san's Tropical Fever Special Version

Tora-san's Tropical Fever Special Version

Nov 22, 1997

Carrying a bag full of samples, Mitsuo makes rounds to shoe stores in remote cities. While staying at budget hotels, his thoughts turn to Tora-san.

View Details
50
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here

Tora-san, Wish You Were Here

Dec 27, 2019

The 50th film in Tora-san series, using the old footages and newly shot scenes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series. The adult Mitsuo, Tora-san’s nephew, who runs into Izumi, his first love, whom he had once promised to marry. The familiar faces of Kurumaya Cafe, which Tora-san’s family ran in Shibamata, also return. Catching up with old friends, it is always their dearest memories of Tora-san which everyone shares on such occasions…

View Details