Yojimbo

Yojimbo


用心棒
Yōjinbō
Bodyguard
Director Akira Kurosawa
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Ryuzo Kikushima
Screenplay Ryuzo Kikushima
Akira Kurosawa
Photography Kazuo Miyagawa
Art Yoshiro Muraki
Sound Choshichiro Mikami
Hisashi Shimonaga
Lighting Choshiro Ishii
Music Masaru Sato
Assistant Director Shiro Moritani
Swordmaster Ryu Kuze
Production Companies Toho, Kurosawa Productions
Release Date April 25, 1961
Runtime 110 minutes
Followed by Sanjuro (1962)

用心棒
Yōjinbō
Bodyguard
Director Akira Kurosawa
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Ryuzo Kikushima
Screenplay Ryuzo Kikushima
Akira Kurosawa
Photography Kazuo Miyagawa
Art Yoshiro Muraki
Sound Choshichiro Mikami
Hisashi Shimonaga
Lighting Choshiro Ishii
Music Masaru Sato
Assistant Director Shiro Moritani
Swordmaster Ryu Kuze
Production Companies Toho, Kurosawa Productions
Release Date April 25, 1961
Runtime 110 minutes
Followed by Sanjuro (1962)

A wandering ronin arrives at a village caught in the rivalry between two gangs: Ushitora on the one hand, and Seibei on the other. The ronin take a room with Gonji at his tavern and learns of the town’s troubles; each gang controls their own mayor, so the town is torn between two rival officials as well. The ronin decides to shake things up and earn some money at the expense of the two gangs. He makes himself known by slaying three of Ushitora’s men in broad daylight, and then offers his services to Seibei, giving his name as Sanjuro. Seibei buys Sanjuro for an exorbitant sum, and decides to strike at Ushitora that same day. However, Sanjuro overhears Seibei’s plot to eliminate Sanjuro when the fight is over and take back his money. Sanjuro waits until the gangs are lined up ready to fight before publicly denouncing Seibei for his plot and leaving his service. Unwilling to retreat, Seibei careens towards an all-out war with Ushitora. However, the confrontation is interrupted by the announcement that a government representative is on his way to inspect the village. Seibei and Ushitora are forced to shelve their grudge so they can cooperate for the inspection. Sanjuro’s plan to destroy both gangs is foiled.

Ushitora meets Sanjuro and informs him that the inspector is leaving soon to inspect a murder case the next town over, and wants to buy Sanjuro for himself. Sanjuro decides to play the gangs off each other again, hoping to raise tensions to the point he needs for a bigger fight. Ushitora’s brother, Unosuke, returns from his year-long-trip and brokers a truce between the gangs, again foiling Sanjuro’s plans. Sanjuro apprehends two of Ushitora’s men who confessed to the murder in the next town, and sells them to Seibei as leverage against Ushitora. Ushitora retaliates by kidnapping Seibei’s son. The stage is set for a handoff, which Unosuke foils by shooting Seibei’s prisoners with a pistol. Seibei responds by presenting Nui, a prostitute he has kidnapped from Ushitora’s safe house. Nui is the mistress of Ushitora’s governor. A proper prisoner exchange is setup for the next day, during which it’s revealed that Nui has a husband and child that she was stolen from. Sanjuro is revolted at the situation and takes matters into his own hands.

Sanjuro accepts Ushitora’s offer of employment, and uses the opportunity to gain access to the safe house, where he murders the samurai guarding Nui and releases her to escape with her husband and child. Sanjuro stages the scene to look as if Seibei’s men had committed the act. Tensions between Ushitora’s and Seibei’s gangs teeter on the edge of another all-out war. However, Unosuke comes across proof that Sanjuro caused the incident at the safe house and apprehends him. Sanjuro is tortured, but manages to escape and take shelter in a graveyard. Ushitora attacks Seibei and utterly destroys his gang and his family. Ushitora takes Gonji captive and tortures him to find Sanjuro. Sanjuro returns in full health and duels with Unosuke, using a throwing knife to paralyze his pistol hand. Sanjuro slays the rest of Ushitora’s gang, freeing the town once and for all.

Top Billed Cast

Toshiro Mifune
Sanjuro Kuwabatake
Tatsuya Nakadai
Unosuke
Yoko Tsukasa
Kodaira's Wife
Isuzu Yamada
Orin
Daisuke Kato
Inokichi
Takashi Shimura
Sake Merchant Tokuemon
Yosuke Natsuki
Farmer's Son
Eijiro Tono
Gonji
Kamatari Fujiwara
Silk Merchant Tazaemon
Ikio Sawamura
Corrupt Bailiff
Atsushi Watanabe
Coffin Merchant
Kyu Sazanka
Ushitora
Ko Nishimura
Ushitora Informant
Takeshi Kato
Ushitora Informant
Sachio Sakai
Corrupt Official
Akira Tani
Ushitora Underling
Tsunagoro Rashomon
Ushitora Enforcer
Gen Shimizu
Seibei Underling
Jerry Fujio
Ushitora Underling
Yutaka Sada
Seibei Underling
Shin Otomo
Horseback Messenger
Shoichi Hirose
Ushitora Underling
Hideyo Amamoto
Seibei Underling
Shoji Oki
Seibei Underling
Fuminori Ohashi
Ushitora Underling
Hiroshi Kiyama
Farmer
Senkichi Omura
Corrupt Official
Noriko Honma
Farmer's Wife
Naoya Kusakawa
Seibei Underling
Mitsuo Tsuda
Ushitora Underling
Akio Kusama
Ushitora Underling
Junichiro Mukai
Seibei Underling
Takuzo Kumagai
Seibei Underling
Ichiro Chiba
Corrupt Official
Haruya Sakamoto
Ushitora Underling
Rinsaku Ogata
Seibei Underling

Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically

Yukihiko Gondo
Ushitora Underling
Minoru Ito
Ushitora Underling
Junpei Natsuki
Seibei Underling
Hideo Shibuya
Ushitora Underling
Haruo Suzuki
Ushitora Underling
Kamayuki Tsubono
Ushitora Underling
Top Billed Cast

Sanjuro Kuwabatake

Unosuke
Tatsuya Nakadai

Kodaira's Wife

Orin
Isuzu Yamada

Inokichi

Sake Merchant Tokuemon

Farmer's Son

Gonji

Silk Merchant Tazaemon

Corrupt Bailiff

Coffin Merchant
Atsushi Watanabe

Ushitora
Kyu Sazanka

Ushitora Informant
Ko Nishimura

Ushitora Informant
Takeshi Kato

Corrupt Official

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Enforcer
Tsunagoro Rashomon

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling
Jerry Fujio

Seibei Underling

Horseback Messenger

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling
Fuminori Ohashi

Farmer
Hiroshi Kiyama

Corrupt Official

Farmer's Wife
Noriko Honma

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Seibei Underling

Corrupt Official
Ichiro Chiba

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling
Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling
製作
Producer
田中友幸
Tomoyuki Tanaka

菊島隆三
Ryuzo Kikushima
脚本
Screenplay
菊島隆三
Ryuzo Kikushima

黒澤明
Akira Kurosawa
撮影
Photography
宮川一夫 (大映)
Kazuo Miyagawa (Daiei)
美術
Art
村木与四郎
Yoshiro Muraki
録音
Sound
三上長七郎
Choshichiro Mikami

下永尚
Hisashi Shimonaga
照明
Lighting
石井長四郎
Choshiro Ishii
音楽
Music
佐藤勝
Masaru Sato
監督助手
Assistant Director
森谷司郎
Shiro Moritani
剣技指導
Sword Instruction
杉野嘉男
Yoshio Sugino
現像
Developing
キヌタ・ラボラトリー
Kinuta Laboratory
製作担当者
Production Manager
根津博
Hiroshi Nezu
出演者
Performers


三船敏郎
Toshiro Mifune

仲代達矢
Tatsuya Nakadai

司葉子
Yoko Tsukasa

山田五十鈴
Isuzu Yamada

加東大介
Daisuke Kato

河津清三郎
Seizaburo Kawazu

志村喬
Takashi Shimura

太刀川寛
Hiroshi Tachikawa

夏木陽介
Yosuke Natsuki

東野英治郎
Eijiro Tono

藤原釜足
Kamatari Fujiwara

沢村いき雄
Ikio Sawamura

渡辺篤
Atsushi Watanabe

藤田進
Susumu Fujita

山茶花究
Kyu Sazanka

西村晃
Ko Nishimura

加藤武
Takeshi Kato

中谷一郎
Ichiro Nakatani

堺左千夫
Sachio Sakai

谷晃
Akira Tani

羅生門綱五郎
Tsunagoro Rashomon

土屋嘉男
Yoshio Tsuchiya

清水元
Gen Shimizu

ジェリー藤尾
Jerry Fujio

佐田豊
Yutaka Sada

大友伸
Shin Otomo

広瀬正一
Shoichi Hirose

天本英世
Hideyo Amamoto

大木正司
Shoji Oki

大橋史典
Fuminori Ohashi

寄山弘
Hiroshi Kiyama

大村千吉
Senkichi Omura

本間文子
Noriko Honma

西条竜介
Ryosuke Saijo

草川直也
Naoya Kusakawa

桐野洋雄
Nadao Kirino

津田光男
Mitsuo Tsuda

高木新平
Shinpei Takagi

大友純
Jun Otomo

草間璋夫
Akio Kusama

小川安三
Yasuzo Ogawa

高木弘
Hiroshi Takagi

向井淳一郎
Junichiro Mukai

熊谷二良
Jiro Kumagai

千葉一郎
Ichiro Chiba

坂本晴哉
Haruya Sakamoto

緒方燐作
Rinsaku Ogata

小串文夫
Fumio Kogushi

照井洋子
Yoko Terui

峯丘ひろみ
Hiromi Mineoka

河美智子
Michiko Kawa
剣技
Sword Instruction
久世竜
Ryu Kuze
振付
Choreography
金須宏
Hiroshi Kanse
監督
Director
黒澤明
Akira Kurosawa