Where to watch Yojimbo online

Storyline

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Released

1961-04-25
Revenue

n/a
Budget

n/a
Runtime

1hr 50m
Genre

Drama, Thriller
Status

Released
Language

日本語
8.2
Production

TOHO

Crew

Akira Kurosawa

Director

Akira Kurosawa

Screenplay

Akira Kurosawa

Producer

Keywords:

japan samurai swordplay gambling sword bodyguard black and white fighting family intrigue ronin criterion jidaigeki revolver edo period feudal japan 19th century business rivalry middleman asian western rivals pitting ones enemy's against each other

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Cast

Toshirō Mifune

Sanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai

Tatsuya Nakadai

Unosuke, gunfighter

Yōko Tsukasa

Nui

Isuzu Yamada

Orin

Daisuke Katō

Inokichi

Seizaburō Kawazu

Seibê - brothel operator

Takashi Shimura

Tokuemon, sake brewer

Hiroshi Tachikawa

Yoichiro

Yōsuke Natsuki

Kohei's Son

Eijirō Tōno

Gonji, Tavern Keeper

Kamatari Fujiwara

Tazaemon

Ikio Sawamura

Hansuke

Atsushi Watanabe

The Cooper (Coffin-Maker)

Susumu Fujita

Homma, Instructor Who Skips Town

Kyū Sazanka

Ushitora

Kō Nishimura

Kuma

Takeshi Katō

Ronin Kobuhachi

Ichirō Nakatani

First Samurai

Sachio Sakai

First Foot Soldier

Akira Tani

Kame

Namigoro Rashomon

Kannuki the Giant

Yoshio Tsuchiya

Kohei

Gen Shimizu

Magotaro

Jerry Fujio

Roku - Samurai Whose Arm is Cut

Yutaka Sada

Matsukichi

Shin Ōtomo

Kumosuke

Shōichi Hirose

Ushitora Follower

Hideyo Amamoto

Yahachi

Shōji Ōki

Sukeju

Fuminori Ōhashi

Second Samurai

Hiroshi Kiyama

Farmer

Senkichi Ōmura

Traveler

Noriko Honma

Farmer's Ex-wife

Ryusuke Nishio

Seibei Follower

Naoya Kusakawa

Seibei Follower

Nadao Kirino

Seibei Follower

Mitsuo Tsuda

Shinpei Takagi

Ushitora Follower

Jun Ōtomo

Seibei Follower

Akio Kusama

Ushitora Follower

Yasuzō Ogawa

Ushitora Follower

Hiroshi Takagi

Ushitora Follower

Jun'ichirō Mukai

Seibei Follower

Takuzō Kumagai

Ichirō Chiba

Second Foot Soldier

Haruya Sakamoto

Ushitora Follower

Rinsaku Ogata

Seibei Follower

Takeo Ogushi

Ushitora Follower

Yoko Terui

Woman at Seibei's House

Hiromi Mineoka

Woman at Seibei's House

Michiko Kawa

Woman at Seibei's House

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Yojimbo

A Review by tanty 8

Written by tanty on 2014-06-16

Great movie! Akira Kurosawa is just a master movie maker.... read more

A Review by CRCulver 9

Written by CRCulver on 2018-06-05

Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film YOJIMBO is a Japanese period drama where wily strategy is worth just as much as prowess with a sword. In the late... read more

Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film YOJIMBO is a Japanese period drama where wily strategy is worth just as much as prowess with a sword. In the late Edo era (some decades before its end in 1868) a community is plagued by two opposing gangs who have built up a criminal empire of prostitution and gambling. Even the local officials are on the take. Into this town steps a nameless samurai (Toshiro Mifune). Once they get a taste of his swordsmanship, both sides want to hire him, but he decides to play them off against each other and free the innocent citizens from this evil. In past films Kurosawa had taken advantage of Mifune's ability to produce exaggerated facial expressions of laughter and fear. Here, however, the nameless samurai is completely unflappable, while it is the criminal bosses and corrupt officials who play the clowns. Ikio Sawamura is a town constable constantly toadying to the gangsters, for example, while Isuzu Yamada gives a memorably sassy performance as the madame of a brothel. In what would become a convention of the Japanese period drama, the numerous henchmen in the gangs were apparently chosen from the most grotesque men that Kurosawa could find (each furthermore has distinctively ratty attire), and one thug is played by an actor suffering from gigantism. That darkly comedic drama between the characters coexists with brutal violence. Yet, while audiences may have been shocked in 1961 by the samurai dispatching his opponents with realistic slashing sound effects and a hacked off limb, there are only a handful of fights here, and they are all over in a flash. (Indeed, one of the most striking aspects of Mifune's acting is his speed in executing the sword moves.) While Kurosawa delights in gangsters getting their comeuppance, he doesn't revel in gore. Much has been said about how this Japanese film would inspire Westerns made in America and Europe (Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS was a straight-up remake). However, the film is also interesting for how it draws so much on influences from the West. Kurosawa's inspiration was an American crime caper by Dashiell Hammett, the samurai’s walk down the main street is drawn from the Westerns of John Ford and others, the soundtrack mixes Japanese music with Western instruments such as harpsichord, and Tatsuya Nakadai's pretty-boy looks are clearly modeled on Hollywood. All in all, I was very impressed by this film. Everything here – from the script and aspect to little things like the wind and dust and the little decorations on the set – seems the result of great effort and talent, all coming together to impress the viewer. And like Kurosawa's RASHOMON, it stays fresh even as its elements have been repeatedly reused by other film and television productions for half a century now.

A Review by Geronimo1967 7

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2023-08-13

I was surprised when I saw this, how late it was set - 19th Century - as I'd always imagined it to be of a more historical nature. That does... read more

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)

A Review by Andres Gomez

Great movie! Akira Kurosawa is just a master movie maker....

A Review by tanty 8

Written by tanty on 2014-06-16

Great movie! Akira Kurosawa is just a master movie maker....

A Review by CRCulver 9

Written by CRCulver on 2018-06-05

A Review by Geronimo1967 7

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2023-08-13

I was surprised when I saw this, how late it was set - 19th Century - as I'd always imagined it to be of a more historical nature. That doesn't remotely detract from the story though - as again Kurosa...