He wanders from town to town peddling his wares. He yearns to return to his home in Shibamata, Katsushika, Tokyo. His family members include Sakura (his kind-hearted half-sister), Hiroshi (Sakura's husband), Mitsuo (Sakura and Hiroshi's son), Tatsuzō (Tora-san's elderly uncle), and Tsune (Tora-san's elderly aunt). Tatsuzō and Tsune run a traditional sweet (dango) shop in Shibamata. The film often begins with Tora-san dreaming of doing grand deeds, anxious to be worthy of his family, usually resulting in disappointment and subsequent awakening. Tora-san unexpectedly drops in on his family. While they are glad to see him, Tora-san's stay eventually causes some kind of ruckus and usually a violent family argument ensues. He then storms off with his belongings just as suddenly as he arrived. In each film he falls in love with a "Madonna", an attractive woman, but he invariably ends up heartbroken. Origin of the series Preceding the first theatrical film of Otoko wa Tsurai yo, a teledrama version was broadcast from 1968 to 1969. It was originally titled "Gukei (or "Gukyō")-Kenmai" (愚兄賢妹), meaning "Goofy Brother and Wise Sister." The name comes from the final subtitle of Naite tamaruka (泣いてたまるか). (The star of Naite tamaruka is also Atsumi Kiyoshi.) Kobayashi Shun'ichi renamed the show Otoko wa Tsurai yo. In the final episode of the TV series, Torajirō dies of a snakebite. This denouement made the audience angry and a film version of Otoko wa Tsurai yo followed. Initially, Shochiku, the distributing agency, was not enthusiastic about the film's prospects but Yōji Yamada's persuasiveness ultimately prevailed. The film series went on to become a huge success with films released every summer and New Years. The series became part of Japanese pop culture. With the exception of Morikawa Shin, the supporting cast of the television version did not reprise their roles in the film series – though Sato Gajiro appears in most of the films as "Gen-chan", Nagayama Aiko is the Madonna in the 6th film and Hisashi Igawa is her suitor. Cast TV series Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma Chieko Baisho as Sakura Shin Morikawa as Tatsuzō Kuruma Tokuko Sugiyama as Tsune Kuruma Gajirō Satō as Yūjirō (Torajiro's little brother) Hisashi Igawa as Hiroshi Suwa (a doctor) kikirin Films Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma Chieko Baisho as Sakura Suwa Gin Maeda as Hiroshi Suwa Shin Morikawa – as Tatsuzō Kuruma (in films 1 to 8) Tatsuo Matsumura – as Tatsuzō Kuruma