Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. A winner of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, Mifune is best known for starring in Akira Kurosawa's critically acclaimed jidaigeki films such as Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Yojimbo (1961). He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy (1954–1956), Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries Shōgun, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films. He is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time.
Mifune in 1954
Mifune in 1939
Mifune in Seven Samurai (1954)
From left to right: Antonio Aguilar, Toshiro Mifune, and Flor Silvestre in Animas Trujano (1964)
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