is a 1943 Japanese
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
and the directorial debut of the Japanese
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
. First released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...
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
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
Tsunejirō Tomita. It follows the story of Sanshiro, a talented though willful youth, who travels to the city in order to learn
Jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence:
Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
. The main character is based on
Saigō Shirō.
The film is seen as an early example of Kurosawa's immediate grasp of the film-making process, and includes many of his directorial trademarks, such as the use of
wipes, weather patterns as reflections of character moods, and abruptly changing camera speeds. The film itself was quite influential at the time, and has been remade on no fewer than five occasions. It spawned a sequel, ''
Sanshiro Sugata Part II
is a 1945 Japanese action drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo. It was filmed in early 1945 in Japan towards the end of World War II ...
'', which was released in 1945 and also directed by Kurosawa.
Plot
In 1883, Sanshiro is a talented though willful youth who wishes to become a
jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
master by becoming a student at one of the city's martial arts schools. His first attempts to find a suitable instructor fail, until he finally finds an accomplished master, Shogoro Yano from the Shudokan Judo school, who he sees defending himself against a group of jujutsu bullies near a river. Initially, Sanshiro is physically capable, but he lacks any type of poise or reflection concerning his self-control and demeanor, even getting into merry fights at a village festival. His master believes him to be talented but lacking in discipline, describing teaching him judo as "like giving a knife to a madman". After being told about his lack of care about life, Sanshio jumps into a lotus pond to prove his strength and loyalty. Clinging to a stake in the pond, he stays the whole day and night before he sees the opening of a lotus bottom that makes him find self-realization. Leaping out of the pond, he goes to Yano to ask for his forgiveness. He starts to appreciate that there is more to his life and to his art than simple muscle and brawl and soon becomes a leading student in his school.
The city is looking to employ one of the local martial arts schools to guide the training of its local police force, and the school of Sanshiro becomes a leading candidate along with its rival, the local school of
Ryōi Shintō-ryū
Ryōi Shintō-ryū Jūjutsu 良移心当流 柔術, (also known as Fukuno-ryū 福野流, Shintō Yawara 神当和, or Ryōi Shintō-ryū Yawara 良移心當流和) is a traditional school ( Koryū 古流, old style) of Jujutsu ( 柔術), foun ...
jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
led by Hansuke Murai. He first faces Kodama, a jujutsu tough that had tried to take out Shogoro in the river. The ensuing match leads to the death of Kodama after a move by Sanshiro leaves him crashing into a corner. In a scheduled competition between the two schools, Sanshiro is chosen to represent his school in a public match against Murai himself to determine which school is best to train the local police in the martial arts. The scheduled bout gets off to a slow start, but Sanshiro soon comes into his own and begins executing devastating throws which cause internal physical damage to his opponent. Although Murai tries to stand every time, energized by the memory of his daughter Sayo, he is forced to give up after the third time he is violently sent to the ground by Sanshiro.
After the match, Sanshiro makes friends with his defeated opponent and is attracted to Sayo. Sayo is a local beauty, and another Ryōi Shintō-ryū jujutsu master, Higaki, competes with Sanshiro for her affections. When he challenges Sanshiro to a duel to the death, Sanshiro accepts and defeats him by inflicting permanent crippling damage to Higaki. After emerging victorious from his duel, Sanshiro prepares for his next assignment in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
while being escorted on the local train by Sayo. He promises to return to her after he finishes his journey.
Cast
![Yukiko Todoroki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Yukiko_Todoroki.1937.2.2.jpg)
*
Susumu Fujita
Susumu Fujita () (8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, '' Sanshiro Sugata'', and appeared in other Kurosawa films including ''The Men Who Tread O ...
as Sanshiro Sugata
*
Denjirō Ōkōchi
was a Japanese people, Japanese film actor best known for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers.
Early life and family
Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buz ...
as Shōgorō Yano
*
Yukiko Todoroki
Yukiko Todoroki ( ''Todoroki Yukiko''; September 11, 1917 – May 11, 1967) was a Japanese actress. Her real name was Tsuruko Nishiyama. She participated in the Takarazuka Revue. At Takarazuka, she was known not by her real name, but by the stage ...
as Sayo Murai
*
Ryūnosuke Tsukigata
was a Japanese actor known especially for his work in jidaigeki in film and television. His real name was Kiyoto Monden.
Career
Born in Miyagi Prefecture, Tsukigata entered the actor's school at Nikkatsu in 1920, but earned his first starring ro ...
as Gennosuke Higaki
*
Takashi Shimura
was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in ''Drunken Angel'' (1948), ''Rashomon'' (1950), ''Ikiru'' (1952) an ...
as Hansuke Murai
*
Ranko Hanai
was a Japanese actress. Her birth name was Shimizu Yoshiko. She appeared in more than 190 films between 1931 and 1961. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1961 at the age of 42.
Selected filmography
* ''The Million Ryo Pot'' (1935)
* ''Fallen ...
as Osumi Kodana
*
Sugisaku Aoyama as Tsunetami Iimura
*
Ichiro Sugai
was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1930 and 1971. Sugai often worked with Kaneto Shindo, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kōzaburō Yoshimura.
Selected filmography
* ''The Water Magician'' (1933)
* '' Spring on Leper's Islan ...
as Police Chief
Michitsune Mishima
*
Yoshio Kosugi
was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 120 films from 1924 to 1967.
Career
First appearing on stage as a shingeki actor, he was initially recognized for his role as Yasha in ''The Cherry Orchard''. He made his film debut in the 1920s ...
as Master Saburō Kodama
*
Kokuten Kōdō
, real name Tanigawa Saichirō (谷川 佐市郎), was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than eighty films from 1923 to 1959.
Career
Kōdō first began acting on the stage in 1901 in shinpa dramas. He joined the Teikine studio in 1923, ...
as Buddhist Priest
*
Michisaburō Segawa as Wada
*
Akitake Kōno
was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1943 to 1973.
Career
Kōno started acting with the Zenshinza theater troupe before joining the Toho studio in 1942. Mostly a character actor, he appeared in films by directors ...
as Yoshima Dan
*Shōji Kiyokawa as Yūjirō Toda
*Kunio Mita as Kōhei Tsuzaki
*Akira Nakamura as Toranosuki Niiseki
*Eisaburō Sakauchi as Nemeto
*Hajime Hikari as Torakichi
Production
Following five years of second unit director work on films such as ''
Uma
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...
'' and ''Roppa's Honeymoon'', Kurosawa was finally given the go-ahead to direct his first film, even though he himself claimed that, in films like ''Uma'', "I had been so much in charge of production I had felt like the director". After hearing of a new novel from the writer Tomita Tsuneo in an advertisement, Kurosawa decided the project was for him and asked film producer Iwao Mori to buy the rights for him. Kurosawa, told that Toho wouldn't be able to buy the rights until it was published, eagerly awaited its release, to the point where he stalked bookstores night and day until he found a copy; he quickly read the book and wrote an screenplay for it. Despite his enthusiasm,
Masahiro Makino
was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ).
Career
Masa ...
was first asked to direct, but he declined.
According to
Japanese cinema
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
scholar
Donald Richie
Donald Richie (17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also dir ...
, the reason Kurosawa was allowed to direct the film was because he had had two film scripts printed, including one of which had won the education minister's prize. However, his work was too far away from the government requirements for a wartime film. Tomita's novel, on the other hand, was considered "safe", dealing, as it did, with a Japanese subject such as the
martial rivalry between judo and jujitsu; being a period piece; and having a popular subject. Kurosawa deliberately went out to make a "movie-like movie", as he knew he would not be able to insert any particularly didactic qualities in the film.
When he went to the board of censors (which he likened to being on trial), the film passed on the basis of recommendation by
Yasujiro Ozu, who called it an important artistic achievement despite other voices claiming it was too "British-American". After the initial release, Japanese censors reportedly trimmed the film by 17 minutes. Some of this footage was later recovered and added to a DVD release, and the original script with the missing material still exists; intertitles are included in the release that describe what occurred in the missing parts. The 1952 re-release (from which the 2009
Criterion DVD is made) opens with (translated from the original Japanese text):
Paul Anderer emphasized Kurosawa's attention to the character of Gennosuke Higaki in the film. Higaki, created by Tsuneo Tomita for the novel and inspired by real life jujutsu master
Mataemon Tanabe
was a Japanese jujutsu practitioner and master of the Fusen-ryū school. He became famous for defeating multiple members of the Kodokan in challenge matches, and came to be considered one of the greatest modern jujutsuka.
Biography Early yea ...
, is the film's central villain. Anderer stated:
Themes
The central theme of the film is the education and initiation of Sugata and the way in which, whilst learning the ways of Judo, he also learns about himself. The film's central scene concerning this theme is when, after being accosted by Yano for getting involved in a streetfight, Sugata leaps into the cold waters near Yano's temple and stays there in order to show his master his dedication, and the fact that he is neither afraid to live nor to die. However, the resident monk chides him for this self-serving display, and he emerges from the pond a humbler man after witnessing the blooming of a lotus blossom, a Buddhist symbol of purity.
Remakes
Films
''Sanshiro Sugata'' has been remade five times since it was initially released, although these versions are even harder to find in the west than the original. The 1955 and 1965 versions share the script of the original versions, whereas the subsequent three releases are all based on the novel rather than Kurosawa's screenplay.
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1955) - Directed by Shigeo Tanaka
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1965) - Directed by Seiichirō Uchikawa
* ''Ninkyō Yawara Ichidai'' (1966) - Directed by
Sadao Nakajima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter (born 8 August, 1934) known for his work in yakuza films and jidaigeki.
Career
Born in Chiba Prefecture, he attended Hibiya High School and then the University of Tokyo before joining the Tōei studi ...
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1970) - Directed by Kunio Watanabe
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1977) - Directed by
Kihachi Okamoto
was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres.
Career
Born in Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted into the Air Force 1943 and entered World War II, an experience that had a profound effect on his l ...
Television
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1970) was aired on
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
, started by
Muga Takewaki
was a Japanese actor.
Filmography
Film
* ''Assassination'' (1964)
* ''Kyu-chan no Dekkai Yume'' (1967)
* '' Mito Kōmon'' (1978)
* '' Shōsetsu Yoshida gakkō'' (1983) - Eisaku Satō
Television
* '' Ōoka Echizen'' (1970-2006) - Sakakibara I ...
.
* ''Sugata Sanshirō'' (1978-79) was aired on
NTV NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Televis ...
, started by
Hiroshi Katsuno
is a Japanese actor. He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Katsuno's debut was as a detective Texas in the television series Taiyō ni Hoero! in 1974 and he won great popularity through the role. The episode his character Texas was killed ...
and
Masaya Oki.
See also
*
List of incomplete or partially lost films
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
Segata Sanshiro
is a character created by Sega to advertise the Sega Saturn in Japan between 1997 and 1998. He is a parody of Sugata Sanshirō, a legendary judo fighter from Akira Kurosawa's 1943 film '' Sanshiro Sugata''. In television and radio advertisem ...
References
External links
*
*
*
Sanshiro Sugata' at the
Japanese Movie Database
The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...
"Sanshiro Sugata": Kurosawa's Elegy for the Reluctant Kamikazeat
Bright Lights Film Journal
''Bright Lights Film Journal'' is an online popular-academic film magazine, based in Oakland, California, United States. It is edited and published by Gary Morris.
Originally a print publication established in 1974, it was discontinued in 1980 to ...
.
{{Akira Kurosawa
1943 films
Japanese black-and-white films
1940s Japanese-language films
Japanese martial arts films
Films directed by Akira Kurosawa
Toho films
Films with screenplays by Akira Kurosawa
Japanese action films
1940s action films
Films based on Japanese novels
1943 directorial debut films
Censored films