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Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo ("It's tough to be a man"): 48 films, spanning 25 years. Wow. Just look at the "followed by" list.

I wish there was a place where I could rent stuff like this. Somehow, I don't see Blockbuster having any of 'em...

Found this, by the way, in the liner notes for UY. Like every other famous Japanese movie in history, UY has a parody of it. ^_^

After a little more research, the series only ended in '95 because the actor who played the main character (a traveling salesman) died. As I understand it, these films held the Japanese equivalent of a Norman Rockwell-esque "old-timey" quality, sort of a fictional vanguard of a lost era. To lose that, in Japan's current financial and cultural situation... I don't envy his fans.