Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo

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 and 4 were directed by Yōji Yamada, who also wrote (or co-wrote) all the screenplays. The series was considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the longest movie series in the world, until it was surpassed by the Huang Fei-Hong series. However, unlike the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, it was not principally helmed by one director.

Each film featured a different leading lady, called a Madonna, and a different region of Japan. (There were also episodes that featured scenes in Arizona and Vienna.) Two films were usually made each year between 1969–1989, one for summer and one for New Year release. From 1990-1995 only one film was made each year, for New Year release. AnimEigo released a boxset of the first four films in the United States in 2009 under the title "Tora-san".

The film series ended after Atsumi's declining health and death from lung cancer at age 68 without Tora-san ever settling down and finding domestic happiness. Atsumi was so identified with the Tora-san character that his death was also considered by fans to be the death of Tora-san. Director Yamada decided not to continue the series after Atsumi's death. However, he instead reworked a Tora-san script stuck in development as "Niji wo Tsukamu Otoko" starring Nishida Toshiyuki as a traveling cinema operator. Although "Niji" was a tribute to movies in general, the final scenes were Yamada's touching, loving post-humous tribute to the Tora-san series and to Atsumi Kiyoshi. Almost all of the principal actors from "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" have cameos in the "Niji" film, and the Tora-san character even makes a surprise cameo appearance near the end of the movie hinting that perhaps Tora is still out there somewhere. The film ends with a dedication to Atsumi Kiyoshi.