Toshiro Mifune

Lore & Background

Although he amassed more than 180 screen credits, Mifune is best known for his 16 collaborations with director Akira Kurosawa. These collaborations included 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. In 1962, he established Mifune Productions, achieving success with large-scale works including The Sands of Kurobe (1968) and Samurai Banners (1969). He also starred in his directorial debut Legacy of the 500,000 (1963). Following his performance in the 1965 film Red Beard, Mifune turned to roles abroad. He starred in films such as Ánimas Trujano (1962), Grand Prix (1966), which was his Hollywood debut, Hell in the Pacific (1968), Red Sun (1971), Paper Tiger (1975), Midway (1976), and Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979). Mifune died of organ failure on 24 December 1997. In 1999, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. He is the subject of the feature-length documentary, Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015), about his life and his films. In 2016, his name was inscribed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Reader's Guide

Mifune was born on 1 April 1920 in Seitō, Japanese-occupied Shandong (present-day Qingdao, China), the eldest son of Tokuzo and Sen Mifune. His father was a trade merchant and photographer, and his mother was the daughter of a hatamoto. He grew up in Dalian, Fengtian from age 4 to 19. In his youth, he worked at his father's photo studio. He was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army Aviation division, serving in the Aerial Photography unit during World War II. In 1947, he entered a Toho 'new faces' contest and was accepted. He first encountered Akira Kurosawa during a talent search; Kurosawa was impressed by his audition. Mifune immersed himself in six months of acting training. His imposing bearing, acting range, facility with foreign languages, and lengthy partnership with Kurosawa made him the most famous Japanese actor of his time. He often portrayed samurai or rōnin who were coarse and gruff. He starred in all three films of Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy (1954–1956); Mifune and Inagaki worked together on twenty films. To prepare for Seven Samurai and Rashomon, he studied footage of lions. For Ánimas Trujano, he studied tapes of Mexican actors to recite his lines in Spanish. His martial arts instructor was Yoshio Sugino. Clint Eastwood adopted the wandering ronin persona for foreign films. Mifune may also be credited with originating the yakuza archetype with his performance in Drunken Angel (1948). Mifune and Kurosawa parted ways after Red Beard.

Did You Know?

• Mifune amassed more than 180 screen credits over his career.
• He collaborated with director Akira Kurosawa on 16 films.
• Mifune portrayed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films.
• He established his own production company, Mifune Productions, in 1962.
• For the film Ánimas Trujano, he learned all his lines in Spanish.