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
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune.jpg)
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
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-rashomon.jpg)
the bandit Tajomaru in
Rashomon
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-seven-samurai.jpg)
Kikuchiyo in
The Seven Samurai
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-i-live-in-fear.jpg)
barely recognizeable as the older, paranoid industrialist Kiichi Nakajima
I Live in Fear
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-high-and-low.jpg)
the Hamlet-figure, Nishi in The Bad Sleep Well
the shoe company executive Gondo in High and Low,
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-red-beard.jpg)
Dr. Niide, aka Red Beard, (Akahige) in
Red Beard
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-hidden-fortress.jpg)
General Rokurota Makabe in
Hidden Fortress
![Toshiro Mifune](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toshiro-mifune-throne-of-blood.jpg)
Washizu (the Macbeth figure) in
Throne of Blood
Takashi Shimura
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-ikiru-hat.jpg)
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
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-rashomon.jpg)
the Woodcutter in
Rashomon
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-seven-samurai-2.jpg)
Kambei, the leader of
The Seven Samurai
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-i-live-in-fear.jpg)
Domestic Court Counselor Dr. Harada in
I Live in Fear
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-high-and-low.jpg)
a police official in
High and Low, a typical minor role for him in the Sixties
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
the corrupt executive Moriyama in
The Bad Sleep Well
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-red-beard.jpg)
the nobleman’s treasurer in
Red Beard, who engages Dr. Niide on the worth of doctors
![Takashi Shimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takashi-shimura-hidden-fortress.jpg)
a general in
Hidden Fortress
Minoru Chiaki
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki.jpg)
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
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki-seven-samurai.jpg)
the good-natured Heihachi in
The Seven Samurai
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki-hidden-fortress.jpg)
the greedy, argumentative peasant Tahei in
Hidden Fortress
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki-throne-of-blood.jpg)
Miki (the Banquo figure) in
Throne of Blood
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki-i-live-in-fear.jpg)
the son Jiro in
I Live in Fear
![Minoru Chiaki](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/minoru-chiaki-idiot.jpg)
Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary in
The Idiot
Susumu Fujita
![Susumu Fujita](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Susumu_Fujita_1945.jpg)
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.
![Susumu Fujita](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/susuma-fujita-high-and-low.jpg)
a detective in
High and Low
![Susumu Fujita](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/susuma-fujita-hidden-fortress.jpg)
General Hyoe Tadokoro in
Hidden Fortress
Tatsuya Nakadai
![Tatsuya Nakadai](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tatsuya-nakadai-high-and-low.jpg)
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.
![Tatsuya Nakadai](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tatsuya-nakadai.jpg)
the villian in
Yojimbo
Isuzu Yamada
![Isuzu Yamada](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isuzu-yamada-lower-depths.jpg)
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.
![Isuzu Yamada](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isuzu-yamada-throne.jpg)
Lady Asaji (the Lady Macbeth figure) in
Throne of Blood
![Isuzu Yamada](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isuzu-yamada-yojimbo.jpg)
Seibei in
Yobimbo
Kamatari Fujiwara
![Kamatari Fujiwara](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kamatari-fujiwara-lower-depths.jpg)
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.
![Kamatari Fujiwara](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kamatari-fuijiwara-ikiru.jpg)
Sub-section chief Ohno, in
Ikiru
![Kamatari Fujiwara](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kamatari-fuijiwara-bad-sleep-well-2.jpg)
the victimized mid-level executive Wada in
The Bad Sleep Well
![Kamatari Fujiwara](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kamatari-fuijiwara-seven-samurai.jpg)
the farmer Manzo, in
The Seven Samurai, obsessed with his daughter’s chastity
![Kamatari Fujiwara](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kamatari-fujiwara-hidden-fortress.jpg)
the quarrelsome peasant Matakishi
Hidden Fortress
Bokuzen Hidari
![Bokuzen Hidari](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bokuzen-hidari-lower-depths.jpg)
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.
![Bokuzen Hidari](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bokuzen-hidari-ikiru.jpg)
a low-level civil servant in
Ikiru
![Bokuzen Hidari](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bokuzen-hidari-seven-samurai.jpg)
the eternally fretful and hapless peasant Yohei in
The Seven Samurai
![Bokuzen Hidari](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bokuzen-hidari-red-beard.jpg)
a patient in
Red Beard
Eiko Miyoshi
![Eiko Miyoshi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eiko-miyoshi-ikiru.jpg)
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.
![Eiko Miyoshi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eiko-miyoshi-hidden-fortress.jpg)
a lady-in-waiting in
Hidden Fortress
Daisuke Kato
![Daisuke Kato](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/daisuke-kato-rashomon.jpg)
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)
![Daisuke Kato](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/daisuke-kato-yojimbo.jpg)
the not-too-bright Inokichi in
Yojimbo
![Daisuke Kato](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/daisuke-kato-seven-samurai-2.jpg)
the samurai Shichiroji in
The Seven Samurai
Masayuki Mori
![Masayuki Mori](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Masayuki_Mori_Rashomon.jpg)
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.
![Masayuki Mori](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/masayuki-mori-bad-sleep-well-2.jpg)
the crooked executive and father, Iwabuchi, in
The Bad Sleep Well
![Masayuki Mori](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/masayuki-mori-idiot.jpg)
Kinji Kameda in
The Idiot
Isao “Ko” Kimura
![Isao Kimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isao-kimura-ikiru.jpg)
Most well-known as the young samurai, Katsushiro, in
The Seven Samurai.
Top photo: a young intern in Ikiru .
![Isao Kimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isao-kimura-high-and-low.jpg)
a young detective in
High and Low
![Isao Kimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/isao-kimura-seven-samurai.jpg)
Katsushiro, in
The Seven Samurai
Kyoko Kagawa
![Kyoko Kagawa](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyoko-kagawa-lower-depths.jpg)
She played several major female roles from the mid-Fifties through the mid-Sixties, notably Okayo in
The Lower Depths (top photo).
![Kyoko Kagawa](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyoko-kagawa-high-and-low-2.jpg)
Reiko in
High and Low
![Kyoko Kagawa](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyoko-kagawa-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
the lame wife Keiko in
The Bad Sleep Well
![Kyoko Kagawa](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyoko-kagawa-red-beard.jpg)
the madwoman patient known as “The Mantis” in
Red Beard
Nobuo Nakamura
![Nobuo Nakamura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nobuo-nakamura-ikiru.jpg)
Typically cast as an unctuous bureaucrat, his role as the Deputy Mayor in
Ikiru is very well done (top photo).
![Nobuo Nakamura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nobuo-nakamura-high-low.jpg)
a sleazy shoe company executive in
High and Low
![Nobuo Nakamura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nobuo-nakamura-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
a lawyer in
The Bad Sleep Well
Kichijiro Ueda
![Kichijiro Ueda](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kichijiro-ueda-hidden-fortress.jpg)
a slave trader in
Hidden FortressHe also appeared as The Commoner in
Rashomon.
Eijiro Tono
![Eijiro Tono](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eljiro-tono-lower-depths.jpg)
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.
![Eijiro Tono](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eljiro-tono-yojimbo.jpg)
Gonji, the innkeeper in
Yojimbo
![Eijiro Tono](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eljiro-tono-high-and-low.jpg)
a factory worker in
High and Low
![Eijiro Tono](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eljiro-tono-seven-samurai.jpg)
an unnamed kidnapper who appeared early in
The Seven Samurai
![Eijiro Tono](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/eljiro-tono-red-beard.jpg)
the landlord Goheiji
Red Beard
Atsushi Watanabe
![Atsushi Watanabe](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/atsushi-watanabe-lower-depths2.jpg)
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.
![Atsushi Watanabe](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/atsushi-watanabe-ikiru.jpg)
the comically descriptive patient in
Ikiru
![Atsushi Watanabe](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/atsushi-watanabe-seven-samurai.jpg)
a bun-seller in
The Seven Samurai
![Atsushi Watanabe](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/atsushi-watanabe-red-beard.jpg)
a patient in
Red Beard
Akemi Negishi
![Akemi Negishi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/akemi-negshi-lower-depths.jpg)
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.
![Akemi Negishi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/akemi-negishi-i-live-in-fear.jpg)
the protagonist’s mistress, Asako Kuribayashi, in
I Live in Fear
![Akemi Negishi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/akemi-negishi-red-beard.jpg)
Okuni, the distraught mother in
Red Beard
Koji Mitsui
![Koji Mitsui](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/koji-mitsu-lower-depths.jpg)
the gambler in
The Lower Depths
![Koji Mitsui](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/koji-mitsu-bad-sleep-well-2.jpg)
a reporter in
The Bad Sleep Well
![Koji Mitsui](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/koji-mitsui-red-beard.jpg)
the drunken Heikichi in
Red Beard
Yutaka Sada
![Yutaka Sada](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yutaka-sada-high-and-low.jpg)
the distraught chauffer Aoki, in
High and Low, whose son is mistakenly kidnapped.
![Yutaka Sada](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yutaka-sada-hidden-fortress.jpg)
a border guard in
The Hidden Fortress
Ko Nishimura
![Ko Nishimura](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ko-nishimura-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
an executive in
The Bad Sleep Well
Tatsuya Mihashi
![Tatsuya Mihashi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tatsuya-mihashi-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
Gondo’s duplicitous assistant Kawanishi in
High and Low, and the wealthy son Tutsuo in
The Bad Sleep Well
Takeshi Kato
![Takeshi Kato](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/takeshi-kato-bad-sleep-well.jpg)
Itakura, the protagonist’s alter ego, in
The Bad Sleep Well
Yunosuke Ito
![Yunosuke Ito](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yunosuke-ito-high-and-low.jpg)
an executive
High and Low
![Yunosuke Ito](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yunosuke-ito-ikiru.jpg)
the dissolute writer in
The Lower Depths
Yoshio Tsuchiya
![Yoshio Tsuchiya](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yoshio-tsuchiya-seven-samurai.jpg)
The determined farmer, Rikichi, in
The Seven Samurai
![Yoshio Tsuchiya](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/yoshio-tsuchiya-red-beard.jpg)
Dr. Handayu Mori in
Red Beard
Seiji Miyaguchi
![Seiji Miyaguchi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/seiji-miyaguchi-seven-samurai-2.jpg)
The splendid swordsman, Kyuzo, in
The Seven Samurai. He also appeared briefly as a yakuza in
Ikiru.
![Seiji Miyaguchi](http://stephenesherman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/seiji-miyaguchi-ikiru.jpg)
an anonymous yakuza in
Ikiru