A List of Great Performers
During Kurosawa’s most productive period, the late Forties through the early Sixties, he worked with many of the same cast and crew on many films. The familiar team, that worked well together, contributed to the successful production of these movies. Here’s a brief list of some of the frequent and notable actors in Kurosawa’s “stable.
First, there is Toshiro Mifune; he stands alone, by far the best-known to Western audiences. Then, two others, Takashi Shimura and Minoru Chiaki, played many large roles in Kurosawa’s films of the era. All three actors appeared in many of them. Then, there are several other actors, some of whom had big roles in one or two movies, some of whom had small roles in many films. This is not an exhaustive filmography, for particular actor or movie, you can check IMDB.
Toshiro Mifune
He and Kurosawa formed the greatest actor-director team in cinematic history. They both seemed to bring out the best in each other. Their first film together was Drunken Angel in 1948, their last Red Beard in 1965. Altogether, they collaborated in 16 films, including almost all of Kurosawa’s greatest from that period: Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Lower Depths, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, etc.
Sadly, the two men had a falling out after Red Beard and never worked together again. During the protracted filming of Red Beard, Mifune had to wear a beard for the part, and could not get other work, as he always had while making previous movies. With his high life-style, it was a real financial strain for him. Mifune famously said, “I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him.” Quite a statement, considering that, out of Mifune’s 180+ films, he worked with Kurosawa on 16.
Mifune had an explosive, dynamic quality as an actor, capable of rapid changes of emotion. He was very hard-working, always early on the set, and (as his son related in a posthumous interview) a very orderly person, the type who arranged his cigarette butts in rows in an ashtray.
Top photo: Mifune as Sanjuro in Yojimbo
the bandit Tajomaru in Rashomon
Kikuchiyo in The Seven Samurai
barely recognizeable as the older, paranoid industrialist Kiichi Nakajima I Live in Fear
the Hamlet-figure, Nishi in The Bad Sleep Well
the shoe company executive Gondo in High and Low,
Dr. Niide, aka Red Beard, (Akahige) in Red Beard
General Rokurota Makabe in Hidden Fortress
Washizu (the Macbeth figure) in Throne of BloodTakashi Shimura
Frequently paired with Mifune, as a father figure: police detectives in Stray Dogs, doctor and patient in Drunkel Angel, leader and misfit in Seven Samurai. In Kurosawa’s early films, Shimura frequently was the star or co-star; his leading role in Ikiru, as Watanabe, the thirty-year civil servant dying of stomach cancer is priceless. The top pictures is from Ikiru, wearing his symbolic new hat as he tearfully sings “Life is Brief.” As time went on, Mifune moved to center stage, and in later films, notably Throne of Blood and Yojimbo, Shimura plays quite secondary parts.
Shimura appeared in 20 Kurosawa movies. Other notable roles included Kambei, the leader in The Seven Samurai, the Woodcutter in Rashomon, and lawyer Hiruta in Scandal (not a great film, but in the role of Hiruta, we see a foreshadowing of Watanabe in Ikiru). His style was more solid and avuncular than Mifune’s, with possibilities of sadness.
He also starred in the 1954 monster movie, Gojira (Godzilla), which was really an anti-nuclear movie.
Top photo: Shimura as Watanabe in Ikiru
the Woodcutter in Rashomon
Kambei, the leader of The Seven Samurai
Domestic Court Counselor Dr. Harada in I Live in Fear
a police official in High and Low, a typical minor role for him in the Sixties
the corrupt executive Moriyama in The Bad Sleep Well
the nobleman’s treasurer in Red Beard, who engages Dr. Niide on the worth of doctors
a general in Hidden FortressMinoru Chiaki
The third of Kurosawa’s leading actors, he usually played somewhat lighter, more humorous characters, such as the good-natured Heihachi in The Seven Samurai. He appeared in nine Kurosawa movies. His role as the questioning, philosophical priest in Rashomon, was, for him, a little out of character. I got a kick out of his Noguchi, one of the low-level bureaucrats in Ikiru. Probably his most acclaimed role is the quarrelsome peasant Tahei in The Hidden Fortress.
Top photo: the priest in Rashomon
the good-natured Heihachi in The Seven Samurai
the greedy, argumentative peasant Tahei in Hidden Fortress
Miki (the Banquo figure) in Throne of Blood
the son Jiro in I Live in Fear
Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary in The IdiotSusumu Fujita
His firm, square-jawed appearance reminds me a little bit of the American actor Glenn Ford. He was Kurosawa’s first leading man, with top roles in the early films: Sanshiro Sugata (top photo), No Regrets for Our Youth, and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail. Mifune’s star eclipsed his in the early Fifties, and his later Kurosawa roles were secondary: as Master Homma in Yojimbo, a detective in both The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low, and General Hyoe Tado in The Hidden Fortress.
a detective in High and Low
General Hyoe Tadokoro in Hidden FortressTatsuya Nakadai
He never rivalled Mifune, but after playing some co-starring roles in the early Sixties, in Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and High and Low, he took the leading parts in Kagemusha and Ran. His role as a “non-villain,” a likeable intelligent detective in High and Low (top picture) was a welcome change of pace; he played that very well.
the villian in YojimboIsuzu Yamada
One of the leading Japanese stage and film actresses of the era, she only played in three Kurosawa films. Her biggest role was Lady Asaji (the Lady Macbeth figure) in Throne of Blood. But, perhaps it’s my Western tastes, but I enjoyed her as the evil, scheming, landlady Osugi in The Lower Depths even more. (top photo)
The second image, heavily made-up in Kabuki style from Throne of Blood, is not the greatest. I prefer the first one from The Lower Depths. Neither capture her appeal; in her own villainous way, she’s quite something.
Lady Asaji (the Lady Macbeth figure) in Throne of Blood
Seibei in YobimboKamatari Fujiwara
A regular, he appeared in all but two of Kurosawa’s films, usually in bit parts. His most memorable role, that of the drunken actor in The Lower Depths (top picture), is marvelous: “Alcohol has poisoned my bitol organs.” But in another substantial part, that of Sub-section chief Ohno, in Ikiru (2nd), I can hardly recognize him as the same actor. He also played the father and farmer, Manzo, in The Seven Samurai (4th); the deranged merchant, Tazaemon, in Yojimbo, and the peasant Matakishi in The Hidden Fortress, the victimized mid-level executive Wada in The Bad Sleep Well (3rd), and the dying wordless Rokusuke in Red Beard.
Sub-section chief Ohno, in Ikiru
the victimized mid-level executive Wada in The Bad Sleep Well
the farmer Manzo, in The Seven Samurai, obsessed with his daughter’s chastity
the quarrelsome peasant Matakishi Hidden FortressBokuzen Hidari
With his hangdog, tragi-comic, Emmett Kelly face, Hidari is one of the most recognizable of the Kurosawa supporting players. His largest role was that of the thoughtful, kindly priest Kahei, in The Lower Depths (top picture). But perhaps, a more typical role for him was the peasant Yohei in The Seven Samurai. (3rd). The second picture shows him as a low-level civil servant in Ikiru. He has a few words as a patient in Red Beard.
a low-level civil servant in Ikiru
the eternally fretful and hapless peasant Yohei in The Seven Samurai
a patient in Red BeardEiko Miyoshi
She usually played a motherly or grandmotherly type. Usually in secondary roles, her largest part probably was as the wife of the lead character in I Live in Fear. While she’s on-screen a lot, and her character is important, most of her presence (as the dying tinker’s wife) in The Lower Depths is unseen, just her coughing and moaning is heard.
a lady-in-waiting in Hidden FortressDaisuke Kato
His rounded, somewhat porcine features, are also fairly recognizable. His best role was as the aptly-named Inokichi (“Boar”) in Yojimbo, a dimmed-witted but murderous brother. He also showed up as an absurdly threatening yakuza in Ikiru.
Top photo: the policeman in Rashomon (a small role)
the not-too-bright Inokichi in Yojimbo
the samurai Shichiroji in The Seven SamuraiMasayuki Mori
Mori was an established Japanese actor, who was quite famous indepently of Kurosawa. His best-known role as the samurai-husband in Rashomon (top photo). He also had large roles in The Bad Sleep Well and The Idiot.
the crooked executive and father, Iwabuchi, in The Bad Sleep Well
Kinji Kameda in The IdiotIsao “Ko” Kimura
Most well-known as the young samurai, Katsushiro, in The Seven Samurai.
Top photo: a young intern in Ikiru .
a young detective in High and Low
Katsushiro, in The Seven SamuraiKyoko Kagawa
She played several major female roles from the mid-Fifties through the mid-Sixties, notably Okayo in The Lower Depths (top photo).
Reiko in High and Low
the lame wife Keiko in The Bad Sleep Well
the madwoman patient known as “The Mantis” in Red BeardNobuo Nakamura
Typically cast as an unctuous bureaucrat, his role as the Deputy Mayor in Ikiru is very well done (top photo).
a sleazy shoe company executive in High and Low
a lawyer in The Bad Sleep WellKichijiro Ueda
a slave trader in Hidden FortressHe also appeared as The Commoner in Rashomon.
Eijiro Tono
Playing older roles, his most memorable was the alienated, furiously pot-scraping tinker, Tomekichi, in The Lower Depths. (top photo) Another big part for him was Gonji, the innkeeper in Yojimbo.
He appeared as the landlord Goheiji in Red Beard, uncharacteristically clean and presentable, out of his usual scruffy character.
Gonji, the innkeeper inYojimbo
a factory worker in High and Low
an unnamed kidnapper who appeared early in The Seven Samurai
the landlord Goheiji Red BeardAtsushi Watanabe
I tend to confuse him with Eijiro Tono, both men playing older types. Indeed they were paired up in Yojimbo, with Watanabe as the coffin-maker. He also appeared, in a similarly-appearing part as Kuna, in The Lower Depths (top picture). In Ikiru, he has a small role as a patient describing the symptoms of stomach cancer at length, which is not to be missed. In this role (see second picture), he looks much younger than in his other parts. Like other bit players, he appeared in Red Beard.
the comically descriptive patient in Ikiru
a bun-seller in The Seven Samurai
a patient in Red BeardAkemi Negishi
A beautiful actress, she only appeared in four Kurosawa films, notably as the prostitute Osen in The Lower Depths (top photo). In Red Beard, she plays a distraught woman, compelled to marry her mother’s lover, while they continue their affair, and even bearing his children.
the protagonist’s mistress, Asako Kuribayashi, in I Live in Fear
Okuni, the distraught mother in Red BeardKoji Mitsui
the gambler in The Lower Depths
a reporter in The Bad Sleep Well
the drunken Heikichi in Red BeardYutaka Sada
the distraught chauffer Aoki, in High and Low, whose son is mistakenly kidnapped.
a border guard in The Hidden FortressKo Nishimura
an executive in The Bad Sleep WellTatsuya Mihashi
Gondo’s duplicitous assistant Kawanishi in High and Low, and the wealthy son Tutsuo in The Bad Sleep WellTakeshi Kato
Itakura, the protagonist’s alter ego, in The Bad Sleep WellYunosuke Ito
an executive High and Low
the dissolute writer in The Lower DepthsYoshio Tsuchiya
The determined farmer, Rikichi, in The Seven Samurai
Dr. Handayu Mori in Red BeardSeiji Miyaguchi
The splendid swordsman, Kyuzo, in The Seven Samurai. He also appeared briefly as a yakuza in Ikiru.
an anonymous yakuza in IkiruI also have a page on Japanese WW2 movies, none of which are listed here.