The taxing woman of the title is Nobuko Miyamoto (the wife of director Juzo Itami), who works for the Japanese version of the IRS. She is also "taxing" in her insistence upon upholding the letter of the law and doggedly tracking down tax cheats. Her current quarry is millionaire Tsutomu Yamazaki, who uses his mob connections to evade paying what he owes the government. This "untouchable" cheat is brought to heel by the diligent Miyamato -- and Yamakazi is so overwhelmed by her persistence that he falls in love with her and proposes marriage! Things get even goofier in the 1988 sequel, titled (you guessed it) The Taxing Woman's Return. The first Taxing Woman was originally released in Japan as Marusa No Onna.