Yojimbo
Poster for Yojimbo
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Produced by	Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by	Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa
Starring	Toshirō Mifune Tatsuya Nakadai Yôko Tsukasa Isuzu Yamada
Music by	Masaru Satō
Cinematography	Kazuo Miyagawa Takao Saito
Distributed by	Toho Company Ltd.
Release date(s)	April 25, 1961
Running time	110 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Followed by	Sanjuro
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Yojimbo (用心棒, Yōjinbō^?) is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a ronin (masterless samurai), portrayed by Toshirō Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling. The ronin convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. By careful political maneuvering and the use of his sword, he brings peace, but only by encouraging both sides to wipe each other out in bloody battles. The title of the film translates as 'bodyguard'. The ronin calls himself Kuwabatake Sanjuro (meaning "Mulberry Field thirty-year-old"), which he seems to make up while looking at a mulberry field by the town. Thus, "Sanjuro" can be viewed as the original "Man with No Name" concept, made famous in the Clint Eastwood-Sergio Leone collaborations, commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy. In Japanese, Yojimbo (用心棒; Yōjinbō) is a bodyguard, security person or sometimes assassin. ... Image File history File links Yojimbo. ... Kurosawa redirects here. ... Tomoyuki Tanaka (田中友幸) was a Japanese movie producer, most famous for creating the Godzilla movies. ... Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. ... Japanese leading actor Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代達矢 Nakadai Tatsuya) became a star after he was discovered working as a shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the 1950s. ... Masaru Sato (May 29, 1928 – December 5, 1999) was a Japanese composer of film scores. ... Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川 一夫 February 25, 1908 - August 7, 1999) is generally recognized as having been one of the finest Japanese cinematographers. ... The English-language version of Tohos famous logo, used from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sanjuro is the English title for Tsubaki SanjÅ«rō ), a 1962 black and white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune. ... The year 1961 in film involved some significant events. ... Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television in Japan. ... Kurosawa redirects here. ... Graves of the forty-seven Ronin at Sengaku-ji Ronin robbing a merchants house in Japan around 1860 (1) For other uses, see Ronin (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Samurai (disambiguation). ... Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. ... Bodyguards of Viktor Yushchenko (far left) after leaving Gdansk city hall. ... For other uses, see Mulberry (disambiguation). ... This article is about the film character played by Clint Eastwood. ... For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation). ... Sergio Leone (January 3, 1929 – April 30, 1989) was an Italian film director. ... The Dollars Trilogy, also known as The Man with No Name Trilogy, refers to the three Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone: A Fistful of Dollars (1964) For a Few Dollars More (1965) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Although it was not Leone...

Inspirations

Toshirō Mifune as a lone hero.

The film's look and themes were in part inspired by the western film, in particular the films of John Ford. The characters - the taciturn loner and the helpless townsfolk needing a protector - are reminiscent of western archetypes, and the cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films such as that of the lone hero in a wide shot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance while the wind kicks up dust between the two. Justus D. Barnes, from The Great Train Robbery The Western is one of the classic American literary and film genres. ... For other persons named John Ford, see John Ford (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Archetype (disambiguation). ...

Kurosawa stated that a major source for the plot was the film noir classic The Glass Key (1942), an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1931 novel. In particular, the scene where the hero is captured by the villains and tortured before he escapes is copied almost shot for shot from The Glass Key.^{[citation needed]} However, it has been noted that the overall plot of Yojimbo is actually much closer to that of another Hammett novel, Red Harvest (1929). Kurosawa scholar David Desser and film critic Manny Farber, among others, state categorically that Red Harvest was the inspiration for the film; however, other scholars, such as Donald Richie, believe the similarities are coincidental.^[1] Two silhouetted figures in The Big Combo (1955). ... The Glass Key is the second and better known film noir adaptation of the classic suspense novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett, released a mere seven years after the first. ... See also: 1941 in film 1942 1943 in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash when returning from a War Bond tour. ... Samuel Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American author of hardboiled detective novels and short stories. ... The novel The Glass Key is a novel by Dashiell Hammett, said to be his favorite among his works. ... Red Harvest (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. ... Manny Farber is an American painter and film critic, born in 1917 in Douglas, Arizona. ... Donald Richie (born 1924) is an American-born author who has written a number of books about the Japanese people and Japanese cinema. ...

Cast

• Toshirō Mifune ... Kuwabatake Sanjuro
• Tatsuya Nakadai ... Unosuke
• Yōko Tsukasa ... Nui
• Isuzu Yamada ... Orin
• Daisuke Katō ... Inokichi, Ushitora's younger brother
• Takashi Shimura ... Tokuemon, sake brewer
• Hiroshi Tachikawa ... Yoichiro
• Yosuke Natsuki ... Kohei's Son
• Eijirō Tōno ... Gonji, tavern keeper
• Kamatari Fujiwara... Tazaemon, Silk merchant and Mayor of town
• Ikio Sawamura ... Hansuke, Officer of the town
• Susumu Fujita ... Homma, instructor who skips town
• Kyu Sazanka ... Ushitora, Crime lord number 1

Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. ... Japanese leading actor Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代達矢 Nakadai Tatsuya) became a star after he was discovered working as a shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the 1950s. ... Daisuke Katō , February 18, 1910–July 31, 1975) was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 films, including Akira Kurosawas Seven Samurai (as the loyal comrade Shichiroji) and Rashomon (film), Yojimbo (as the wild pig Inokichi), and Ikiru, and Hiroshi Inagakis Samurai Trilogy and Chushingura. ... Takashi Shimura as the doomed bureaucrat Watanabe in Ikiru. ... Eijirō Tōno , 17 September 1907 - 8 September 1994) was a Japanese actor who appeared as the title character in the television jidaigeki series Mito Kōmon. ... Kamatari Fujiwara (藤原釜足 Fujiwara Kamatari) (January 1, 1905 - January 1, 1985) was a Japanese actor. ... Susumu Fujita (8 January 1912 - 23 March 1991) was a Japanese actor who played the lead role in Akira Kurosawas first feature Sanshiro Sugata. ...

Production

Many of the actors in Yojimbo had worked with Kurosawa before and after, especially Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Tatsuya Nakadai. Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo. ... Takashi Shimura as the doomed bureaucrat Watanabe in Ikiru. ... Japanese leading actor Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代達矢 Nakadai Tatsuya) became a star after he was discovered working as a shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the 1950s. ...

Toshirō Mifune as the nameless protagonist of Yojimbo.

At one point the hero, beaten, disarmed and left for dead, recovers in a small hut where he practices with his throwing knife by pinning a fluttering leaf. This effect was created by reversing the film: in reality, the leaf was pinned, the knife yanked away by a wire, and the leaf blown away. Iconic picture of Toshiro Mifune from Yojimbo This work is copyrighted. ... Iconic picture of Toshiro Mifune from Yojimbo This work is copyrighted. ... Knife throwing is an art, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapon(s) s/he is throwing, and a target. ...

Influence

Both in Japan and the West, Yojimbo had a considerable influence on various forms of entertainment.

Kurosawa directed a companion piece to Yojimbo in 1962, entitled Sanjuro, in which Mifune returns as the ronin, who keeps his "given name" Sanjuro (meaning "Thirtysomething") but he takes a different "surname" (in both films, he takes his surname from the plants he happens to be looking at when asked his name). Sanjuro is the English title for Tsubaki Sanjūrō ), a 1962 black and white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune. ...

In 1964, Yojimbo was remade as A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first appearance as the Man with No Name. Leone and his production company failed to secure the remake rights to Kurosawa's film, resulting in a lawsuit that delayed Fistful's release in North America for three years. In Yojimbo, the protagonist defeats a man with a gun, when he carries only a knife and a sword; in the equivalent scene in Fistful, Eastwood's pistol-wielding character survives being shot by a rifle by hiding an iron plate under his clothes to serve as a shield against bullets. // Events January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove is released. ... In film, a remake is a newer version of a previously released film or a newer version of the source (play, novel, story, etc. ... A Fistful of Dollars (Per un pugno di dollari in Italy and officially on-screen in the U.S. and UK as simply Fistful of Dollars) is a 1964 film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood. ... Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ... Sergio Leone (January 3, 1929 – April 30, 1989) was an Italian film director. ... For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation). ... This article is about the film character played by Clint Eastwood. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... For other uses, see Rifle (disambiguation). ...

The 1970 film Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo also features Mifune as a similar character. It is the twentieth of a series of movies featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi. Although Mifune is clearly not playing the same man (his name is Sasso, and his personality and background are different in many key respects), the movie's title and some of its content do intend to suggest the image of the two iconic Jidaigeki characters confronting each other. Incident at Blood Pass, made in the same year, stars Mifune in a role similar to that of Yojimbo. // Events February 11 - The film The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr premieres in New York City. ... Shintaro Katsu in Shintaro Katsus Zatoichi (1989) Takeshi Kitano in Zatoichi (2003) Zatoichi (座頭市 Zatōichi) is a fictional character featured in one of Japans longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. ... Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television in Japan. ...

Last Man Standing (1996), a Prohibition era gangster thriller, directed by Walter Hill and starring Bruce Willis, is an officially authorized remake of Yojimbo. Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film written and directed by Walter Hill, starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. ... The year 1996 in film involved some significant events. ... Detroit police inspecting equipment found in a clandestine underground brewery during the prohibition era. ... This article is about members of a gang or criminal organization. ... The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. ... Walter Hill (born California 1942) is a prominent American film director. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a Golden Globe- and double Emmy-winning German-born American actor and singer. ...

The Sharp End, a military science fiction novel by David Drake, is an adaptation of Yojimbo with a team of soldiers taking the place of the solitary warrior. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein is a well-known example of military science fiction. ... David Drake David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy literature. ...

The anime series Kaze no Yojimbo (2001; literally Bodyguard of the Wind), produced by Kurosawa Productions retells the story of the original film in the modern era. Many of the characters and events in the series are analogous to characters and events in Yojimbo, but additional subplots and characters are added to expand it into a 25-episode TV series and to distinguish it from Kurosawa's film. Animé redirects here. ... In this modern day reimagining of Akira Kurosawas film Yojimbo, Jyouji (George) Kodama has arrived in Kimujuku, a town distinctly divided by two rival factions, in order to search for a man named Genzo Araki. ...

The PlayStation 2 game Way of the Samurai has many elements heavily inspired by Yojimbo. In that game, the player takes on the role of a wandering samurai who drifts into a small town caught between warring factions. In the game, the player can align himself with any of the factions, can remain neutral, or can be completely amoral, and fight against anyone and everyone he encounters. The path the player takes determines the outcome of the storyline and the ending of the game, however, to get the "best" ending, the player ultimately will align himself with both gangs and play both sides in order to free the townspeople from oppression. There is also a point in the storyline where the player, armed with only his swords, may have to fight the town's sheriff, who carries a pistol. PS2 redirects here. ... For the samurai code of conduct, see Bushido. ...

Another PlayStation 2 game, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, features characters with very similar costumes, features, and behaviors. A large amount of the enemy characters stand and scratch their chins in the exact manner as Toshiro Mifune does constantly throughout the film. The most obvious character reference is Tatsuya Nakadai/Unosuke, the gunfighter. His name is never stated in the game however, he has the exact same visage from his pistol to the pink kimono and dark rings under his eyes.

Again, in another Playstation 2 game, Final Fantasy X, there is an aeon called Yojimbo that is depicted as a ronin. As long as summoner Yuna pays for his services, Yojimbo executes all types of samurai techniques to defeat the enemies that stand in the summoner's path. Final Fantasy X ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix), and the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy video game series; it was released in 2001, and is the first numbered Final Fantasy game for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. ...

Notes

1. ^ Allen Barra, 'From Red Harvest to Deadwood', Salon (2005)

External links

• Yojimbo at the Internet Movie Database
• Criterion Collection essay by Alexander Sesonske
• A Comparison of Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing
• Yojimbo (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database
• Yojimbo at the Rotten Tomatoes

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