Figure 1.--

The series " Otoko wa Tsurai yo " or " It's tough being a man " is arguably the most loved movie series in Japanese film history. There were 48 films made altogether in the series, 1969-95, usually two a year timed for release at New Years and the summer holidays. The hero, known as "Tora-san", is sort of ne-er do well travelling salesman with a gruff exterior but a heart of gold. He was played by Kiyoshi Atsumi whose death in 1995 ended the series. In each of the films, Tora-san meets a woman. They become close and it looks as if they will fall in love, but something always happens to break up their relationship (often due to a particular Japanese inability to express feelings directly). Playing the woman (known as the "Madonna" role) has been a series of Japan's top actresses -- it was almost a rite of passage for an actress entering the big time.

In addition to Tora-san himself, a group of regulars always appeared in the films -- principally his sister Sakura (played by Chieko Basho) and her family. She has one son, Mitsuo (Hidetaka Yoshioka)who starts off as an infant. In some of the later films, when Mitsuo has become an adult, his lovelife becomes central with the aging Tora-san acting as an advisor. The years in which Mitsuo is growing up provide a look at Japanese boy's fashions of the time (early 1980s), although Mitsuo is more often depicted in long pants than was common. (not always though -- in series #32, he is shown as a 6th grader on a cold New Years Day in a baseball cap, sweater, short shorts and white knee socks). In #29, which starts out in the early spring, he is depicted in long pants and a long sleeved shirt, then as the weather warms, he moves to a short-sleeved shirt, then shorts and a short sleeved shirt, and finally a tank top and short-shorts at the height of the August heat.