Screenplay
The film centers on Riko Murakami, a tough-as-nails detective who is also the single mother of a young boy. At work, she has hit a wall investigating a grisly murder in a hotel room. In her private life, she sweats her son's impeding "park debut" -- when she introduces her son and herself to the young mothers of her neighborhood. Most give her strange almost hostile looks except Sachiko (Keiko Unno), who says her kid is in the hospital. While her son gambles about the playground, Riko and Sachiko exchange child-rearing war stories and soon become friends. Then she learns that the prime suspect of her case is none other than Sachiko's husband. Moreover, she learns that Sachiko's son was in fact the center of a kidnapping case several years ago and the child has been long thought of as dead. Her husband and the detective in charge of child's case both have their own secrets, and soon Riko finds herself and her son threatened.
Tora-san's nephew Mitsuo is exchanging letters with Izumi, a former classmate whose parents divorced and took her out of Tokyo.
During his wandering throughout Japan, Tora-san meets a suicidal man. He travels with the man to Vienna, but winds up homesick for Japan.
During his travels, Tora-san comes across a traditional theater he used to visit, and discovers that one of his old friends has died. Tora-san and his family help the friend's daughter, who becomes romantically involved with an aspiring artist.
Tora-san's family's neighbor, Akemi, who had been married in Marriage Counselor Tora-san (1984), runs away from her husband, who is only interested in work. Tora-san follows her to Shikinejima, and attempts to bring her back to her home. In doing so he encounters a school-reunion group who are traveling to meet their elementary school teacher, which is a reference to the film Twenty-Four Eyes by Keisuke Kinoshita. Tora-san joins them and falls in love with the teacher.
