Tora-san arrived on the screen when anything was possible if you worked hard enough, and people were forward-thinking and full of energy… A penniless, comic anti-hero, Tora-san lacked good looks and smarts and remained oblivious to the country’s modernization, living solely to bring happiness to those he loved.
–Yoji Yamada, Director

It’s a busy month for Japan Society in New York City! They spent an entire weekend at the New York Anime Festival, then invited us in for a private advance look at the new gallery exhibition New Bamboo. Then we dropped by to sit it on Dan Pink’s Adventures in Manga lecture. Now Monthly Classics begins again with Best of Tora-san on Friday, October 17, at 7:30pm!

Last year the Japan Society Film Program launched the highly successful Monthly Classics film series. A classic Japanese film was screened once a month as part of a curated series that ran for over several months. Last year’s series was the classic Nikkatsu films that defined the modern yakuza genre. The term Nikatsu came from Nikkatsu studio, Japan’s oldest film studio that produced many of the most popular yakuza films of the 1960s and 70s.

This year Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (Otoko wa tsuraiyo), the movie that introduced Tora-san to the world in 1969, kicks off the Best of Tora-san film series.

Best of Tora-san highlights the films of the character Tora-san (Kiyoshi Atsumi), Japan’s classic comic anti-hero. Tora-san emerged in 1969 when yakuza superstars such as Ken Takakura and Yujiro Ishihara dominated the screen, and remained Japan’s beloved icon for over 25 years. The 48-part Tora-san series chronicles the life of an unruly yet endearing salesman traveling through a rapidly-modernizing Japan.

Over 80 million people have seen Tora-san in theaters, and it’s the world’s longest running series in film history. Director Yoji Yamada (Twilight Samurai) hand picked the top eight films for Best of Tora-san to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Tora-san film, and Atsumi’s 80th birthday. Mr. Yamada wrote and directed all but two of the 48 Tora-san films.

Being opening night, there’s always a special treat and this time Yoji Yamada will be answering Q&A live from Japan. He’ll be appearing via high definition digital video through a super high speed internet project Japan Society has been working on with Keio University.