From 1969 to 1995, Yamada Yoji directed an iconic series of films titled Otoko wa Tsurai yo (a.k.a. Its Tough Being a Man) about a traveling salesman & his never-ending difficulties with love. The director shows that relationships dont get any easier with time in his 2016 film What a Wonderful Family! (a.k.a. Kazoku wa Tsurai yo). Yamada reunites the cast of Tokyo Family including Hashizume Isao, Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Aoi Yu, Nishimura Masahiko, Natsukawa Yui, Hayashiya Shozo & Nakajima Tomoko for an astute, good-humored look into the dynamics of the modern family.
Married for 50 years, Shuzo (Hashizume Isao) & Tomiko (Yoshiyuki Kazuko) live with their sons Konosuke (Nishimura Masahiko) & Shota (Tsumabuki Satoshi) as well as their daughter-in-law (Natsukawa Yui) & their grandchildren. With so many people under one roof, the house is constantly bustling with bicker & banter. On Tomikos latest birthday, which Shuzo has as usual forgotten, she calmly asks him for a present: divorce.