Kiyoshi Atsumi (渥美 清 Atsumi Kiyoshi), born Yasuo Tadokoro (田所 康雄 Tadokoro Yasuo, 10 March 1928 in Tokyo – 4 August 1996 in Tokyo), was a Japanese film actor. He started his career in 1951 as a comedian at a strip-show theater in Asakusa. After two years of fighting pulmonary tuberculosis, he made his debut on TV in 1956 and on film in 1957. His vivid performance of a lovable, innocent man in a film “Dear Mr. Emperor” (Haikei Tenno-Heika-Sama) in 1963 established his reputation as an actor.
Later he became the star of the highly popular Tora-san series of films, from the original Otoko wa Tsurai yo (translated in English as 'It's Tough being a Man') in 1969 to the 48th film released in 1995, the year before his death.
The enduring success of the series made him synonymous with the Tora-san character, and many Japanese regarded his death as the death of Tora-san, not the death of Yasuo Tadokoro or Kiyoshi Atsumi.
Known For
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Cook #1 (uncredited)
Full Filmography
Acting
若社長と爆発娘
(1960)
Snow in the South Seas
(1961)
Obon, The Moll Dipper
(1961)
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: The Youngest Boss in the Tokai Region
(1961)
The Ambitious Youth
(1962)
Mitsuo Aoi
A Country Boss
(1962)
Sasaki
Good Rascals
(1962)
Ushi
Nippon no obaachan
(1962)
A Carpenter and Children
(1962)
Jirocho' s Days of Youth: Whirlwind on the Tokaido
(1962)
Aitsu bakari ga naze moteru
(1962)
Ottamage ningyo monogatari
(1962)
Tōkyō sanosa musume
(1962)
Sing, Young People
(1963)
Driver
To Your Majesty, The Emperor
(1963)
Escape from Hell
(1963)
Ichibei
Okashina yatsu
(1963)
Kashô Sanyûtei
Onna yajikita-tatchi ryokō
(1963)
The Glamorous Ghost
(1964)
Hospital Guard
How to Make Money
(1964)
The Honest Fool
(1964)
Zoku Haikei Tenno Heika Sama
(1964)
Zensuke Yamashita
Dear Mr. Prime Minister
(1964)
Kakumaru
The Song of the Bwana Toshi
(1965)
Toshi
風来忍法帖
(1965)
Our Wonderful Years
(1966)
Teiji Yoshida
Kutsukake Tokijiro: The Lonely Yakuza
(1966)
Minobu no Asakichi
The Betrayers Out!
(1966)
Gamblers' Luck
(1966)
Express Train
(1967)
Traveling in Party
(1967)
Green Light to Joy
(1967)
Yoshitaro Hirai
The Man Without a Map
(1968)
Tashiro
New Year Trip
(1968)
風来忍法帖 八方破れ
(1968)
The Day the Sun Rose
(1968)
Scrap Collectors
(1968)
Neon taiheiki
(1968)
In Broad Daylight
(1968)
Katsuji 'Watakatsu' Watanabe
It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)
(1968)
Tora-san's Cherished Mother
(1969)
Torajiro Kuruma
It's Tough Being a Man
(1969)
Torajirô Kuruma
Women Can't Be Beaten
(1969)
Tora-san's Grand Scheme
(1970)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san, His Tender Love
(1970)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Runaway
(1970)
Torajiro Kuruma
Where Spring Comes Late
(1970)
Traveler
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Cook #1 (uncredited)
Charming Men
(1970)
Okera Goro
Tora-san's Shattered Romance
(1971)
Torajirô Kuruma
Tora-san, the Good Samaritan
(1971)
Torajirō Kuruma
Tora-san's Love Call
(1971)
Torajiro Kuruma
Home from the Sea
(1972)
Matsushita
Tora-san's Dear Old Home
(1972)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
(1972)
Torajiro Kuruma
My Voiceless Friends
(1972)
Tamiji Nishiyama
Tora-san Loves an Artist
(1973)
Tora-san's Forget Me Not
(1973)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Lovesick
(1974)
Torajiro
Tora-san's Lullaby
(1974)
Torajiro
The Castle of Sand
(1974)
Movie Theater Manager
Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again
(1975)
Tora
Tora-san, the Intellectual
(1975)
Torajiro
Tora-san's Sunrise and Sunset
(1976)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Pure Love
(1976)
Torajiro
The Village
(1976)
The Yellow Handkerchief
(1977)
Watanabe Kacho
Tora-san Meets His Lordship
(1977)
Tora-san Plays Cupid
(1977)
Torajirō
Village of Eight Gravestones
(1977)
Kosuke Kindaichi
田舎刑事 時間よ、とまれ
(1977)
August without Emperor
(1978)
Kubo
Stage-Struck Tora-san
(1978)
Talk of the Town Tora-san
(1978)
Tora
Tora-san, the Matchmaker
(1979)
Torajiro
Tora-san's Dream of Spring
(1979)
Kuruma Torajiro
Tora-san's Tropical Fever
(1980)
Foster Daddy, Tora!
(1980)
Torajiro Kuruma
A Distant Cry from Spring
(1980)
Kondo
Tora-san's Promise
(1981)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Love in Osaka
(1981)
Torajiro Kuruma
Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san
(1982)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san, the Expert
(1982)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san Goes Religious?
(1983)
Kuruma Torajiro
Tora-san's Song of Love
(1983)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Forbidden Love
(1984)
Torajiro Kuruma
Marriage Counselor Tora-san
(1984)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san's Island Encounter
(1985)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san, the Go-Between
(1985)
Torajiro Kuruma
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
(1986)
Kihachi
Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy
(1986)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san Goes North
(1987)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san Plays Daddy
(1987)
Torajiro Kuruma
Children on the Island
(1987)
Narrator (voice)
Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial
(1988)
Torajiro Kuruma
Hope and Pain
(1988)
Tora-san Goes to Vienna
(1989)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san, My Uncle
(1989)
Torajiro Kuruma
Tora-san Takes a Vacation
(1990)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san Confesses
(1991)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san Makes Excuses
(1992)
A Class to Remember
(1993)
(cameo)
Tora-san's Matchmaker
(1993)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san's Easy Advice
(1994)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san to the Rescue
(1995)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san's Tropical Fever Special Version
(1997)
Torajiro Kuruma(Tora-san)
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here
(2019)
Tora-san