Sanshiro Sugata is a 1943 Japanese martial arts drama film and the directorial debut of the Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. First released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, the film was eventually released in the United States on 28 April 1974. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Tsuneo Tomita, the son of prominent judoka Tsunejirō Tomita. It follows the story of Sanshiro, a talented though willful youth, who travels to the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Saigō Shirō.
Theatrical release poster
Yukiko Todoroki played the female lead in Sanshiro Sugata who would win the heart of Sanshiro in Kurosawa's early film. Contemporaneous photograph from 1937.
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed 30 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production.
Kurosawa on the set of Seven Samurai in December 1953
From the left: Kurosawa, Ishirō Honda, and Senkichi Taniguchi with their mentor Kajirō Yamamoto, late 1930s
Kurosawa (left) and Mikio Naruse (right) during the production of Avalanche (1937)
Filming of The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, 1945