Tora-san, His Tender Love

Tora-san, His Tender Love (男はつらいよ フーテンの寅, Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Fūten no Tora) is a 1970 Japanese comedy film directed by Azuma Morisaki. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Kuruma Torajirō (Tora-san), and Michiyo Aratama as his love interest or "Madonna".^[1] Tora-san, His Tender Love is the third entry in the popular, long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, and the first of only two in the series not directed by Yoji Yamada.^[2]

Tora-san, His Tender Love
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Azuma Morisaki
Written by	Yoji Yamada Shun'ichi Kobayashi Akira Miyazaki
Starring	Kiyoshi Atsumi Michiyo Aratama
Cinematography	Tetsuo Takaba
Edited by	Yoshi Sugihara
Music by	Naozumi Yamamoto
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	January 15, 1970 (1970-01-15)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Synopsis

Tora-san discovers that his family is arranging a marriage for him. He leaves to the countryside where he falls in love with the manager of an inn. Unaware that she is involved with another man, Tora-san confesses his love on a New Year's television program.^[2][3][4]

Cast

• Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajiro^[5]
• Michiyo Aratama as Oshizu
• Shin Morikawa as Ryūzō Azuma
• Chieko Misaki as Tsune Kuruma (Torajiro's aunt)
• Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa
• Chieko Baisho as Sakura Suwa

Critical appraisal

The German-language site molodezhnaja gives Tora-san, His Tender Love three and a half out of five stars.^[6]

Availability

Tora-san, His Tender Love was released theatrically on January 15, 1970.^[7] In Japan, the film was released on videotape in 1989 and 1995, and in DVD format in 2000, 2005 and 2008.^[8] AnimEigo released the film on DVD in the US along with the other first four films in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series on November 24, 2009.^[2]