Sanshiro Sugata

Kurosawa’s effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. Starring Susumu Fujita as the title character, Sanshiro Sugata is a thrilling martial arts action tale, but it’s also a moving story of moral education that’s quintessential Kurosawa.

Japan
1943
79 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Japanese

Available In

Collector's Set

The First Films of Akira Kurosawa

DVD Box Set

4 Discs

$47.96

Collector's Set

AK 100: 25 Films by Kurosawa

DVD Box Set

25 Discs

$319.00

Out Of Print

Cast & Credits

Cast

Denjiro Ookouchi: Shogoro Yano
Susumu Fujita: Sanshiro Sugata
Yukiko Todoroki: Sayo Murai
Ranko Hanai: Sumi Kodana
Ryunosuke Tsukigata: Gennosuke Higaki
Takashi Shimura: Hansuke Murai
Sugisaku Aoyama: Tsunetami Iinuma
Kokuten Kodo: Buddhist priest

Credits

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Keiji Matsuzaki
Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa
Original novel by: Tomita Tsuneo
Cinematography: Akira Mimura
Production design: Masao Tozuka
Music: Seiichi Suzuki
Editing: Toshio Goto

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Current

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Essays — Aug 3, 2010

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Explore

Akira Kurosawa

Writer, Director

Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. His best-known films remain his samurai epics Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, but his intimate dramas, such as Ikiru and High and Low, are just as searing. The first serious phase of Kurosawa’s career came during the postwar era, with Drunken Angel and Stray Dog, gritty dramas about people on the margins of society that featured the first notable appearances by Toshiro Mifune, the director’s longtime leading man. Kurosawa would subsequently gain international fame with Rashomon, a breakthrough in nonlinear narrative and sumptuous visuals. Following a personal breakdown in the late sixties, Kurosawa rebounded by expanding his dark brand of humanism into new stylistic territory, with films such as Kagemusha and Ran, visionary, color, epic ruminations on modern man and nature.