Tora-san's Forget Me Not

Tora-san's Forget Me Not (男はつらいよ 寅次郎忘れな草, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Wasurenagusa) aka Torasan and his Forget-Me-Not^[1] is a 1973 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Ruriko Asaoka as his love interest or "Madonna".^[2] Tora-san's Forget Me Not is the eleventh entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series.

Tora-san's Forget Me Not
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yoji Yamada
Written by	Yoji Yamada Akira Miyazaki Yoshitaka Asama
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Ruriko Asaoka
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Iwao Ishii
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	August 4, 1973 (1973-08-04)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Synopsis

When Tora-san takes a job at a dairy farm, he becomes infatuated with Lily, a singer. Tora becomes ill, and Lily plans to visit him to tell him his feelings are requited. She is fired from her job and must leave before she can visit Tora-san.^[3][4]

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō^[5]
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura
• Ruriko Asaoka as Lily (Kiyoko Matsuoka)
• 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 Boss (Umetarō Katsura)
• Junkichi Orimoto as Kurihara
• Gajirō Satō as Genkō
• Chishū Ryū as Gozen-sama

Critical appraisal

Yuji Yamada was given the Best Director prize at the Mainichi Film Awards for his work on Tora-san's Forget Me Not. Yamada, Akira Miyazaki, and Yoshitaka Asama were also awarded for Best Screenplay at the ceremony.^[6] The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san's Forget Me Not three and a half out of five stars.^[7]

Availability

Tora-san's Forget Me Not was released theatrically on August 4, 1973.^[8] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1995, and in DVD format in 2002 and 2008.^[9]