Tora-san's Dear Old Home

Tora-san's Dear Old Home (男はつらいよ 柴又慕情, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Shibamata Bojō) aka Tora-san's New Romance^[1] is a 1972 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Sayuri Yoshinaga as his love interest or "Madonna".^[2] Tora-san's Dear Old Home is the ninth entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, and the first to employ an opening dream-sequence, which became a standard feature of the series.^[3] It is also the first film in the series in which Tatsuo Matsumura plays Tora-san's uncle, a role he took over from Shin Morikawa who died after the eighth film.^[4]

Tora-san's Dear Old Home
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Yoji Yamada
Written by	Yoji Yamada Yoshitaka Asama
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Sayuri Yoshinaga
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Iwao Ishii
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	August 5, 1972 (1972-08-05)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Synopsis

Tora-san meets three women on vacation when he travels to Fukui. One of the women meets him at his home, and he believes she has fallen in love with him, unaware that she hopes to marry a potter in the countryside.^[4][5]

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro^[6]
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Sayuri Yoshinaga as Utako
• Tatsuo Matsumura as Kuruma Tatsuzō
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Hayato Nakamura as Mitsuo Suwa
• Hisao Dazai as Tarō Ume
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama
• Masaaki Tsusaka as Noboru

Critical appraisal

Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Tora-san's Dear Old Home is a "typically fine early entry in the series' run", which shows Yamada and Atsumi still experimenting with the Tora-san character and stories. Galbraith singles out Yamada's portrayal of "fleeting friendships" in this film, pointing out, "Yamada's camera lingers on little details, especially the sadness of departing trains and the pain of saying goodbye." He points out that the film is also very funny, with Chishū Ryū performing an especially humorous scene as the Buddhist priest.^[4] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Dear Old Home four out of five stars.^[3]

Availability

Tora-san's Dear Old Home was released theatrically on August 5, 1972.^[7] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2008.^[8]