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The phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by those who make a living explaining such things. To some Japanese sociologists, Tora-San is a Walter Mitty in reverse. Instead of representing the daydream of success, as Mitty did for Americans, Tora-San is a symbol of freedom in an overly disciplined society. "The higher the degree of discipline in a society, the more escapist its members are likely to be," says Kazuo Shimada, a Tokyo psychologist. Yamada also sees Tora-San as a figure of compassion in a country short of both. "We're always in such a hurry that we end up disregarding those people suffering by the roadside," says Yamada. "Tora-San would never fail to stop and see how he could help them."
How many more Tora-Sans will there be? Probably fewer than 20, says Yamada, who explains that eventually the cast will become too old to maintain the pictures' vitality. Replacements would be unthinkable—Atsumi's bland, square face is almost as well known as the Emperor's—and Tora-San presumably will die not from public neglect but old age.