Japanese screenwriter and film producer who is best known for co-writing the screenplays for several Akira Kurosawa films, including Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo and High and Low. He also produced several of Kurosawa's early 1960s films. In addition to his work with Kurosawa, screenplays he wrote or co-wrote include Tora! Tora! Tora!, Hiroshi Inagaki's Arashi and The Birth of Japan, and Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, on which he also served as producer.
Known For
A Fistful of Dollars
(1964)
Original Story
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Screenplay
The Hidden Fortress
(1958)
Screenplay
High and Low
(1963)
Screenplay
Last Man Standing
(1996)
Original Film Writer
Throne of Blood
(1957)
Screenplay
Yojimbo
(1961)
Screenplay
Red Beard
(1965)
Screenplay
Stray Dog
(1949)
Writer
The Bad Sleep Well
(1960)
Writer
Scandal
(1950)
Screenplay
Sanjuro
(1962)
Screenplay
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
(1960)
Screenplay
Full Filmography
Writing
Stray Dog
(1949)
Writer
Scandal
(1950)
Screenplay
Tange Sazen
(1952)
Screenplay
Made in Japan
(1953)
Screenplay
The Black Current
(1954)
Screenplay
Hirate Miki the Swordman
(1954)
Screenplay
Kunisada Chūji
(1954)
Writer
Hanran
(1954)
Screenplay
No Time for Tears
(1955)
Writer
Till We Meet Again
(1955)
Writer
A Man Among Men
(1955)
Story
The Samurai of Edo
(1955)
Screenplay
Vanished Enlisted Man
(1955)
Screenplay
Six Assassins
(1955)
Writer
The Storm
(1956)
Writer
The Underworld
(1956)
Screenplay
Wakanohana: The Story of the Devil of the Dohyō
(1956)
Story
Dotanba
(1956)
Screenplay
Will-o'-the-Wisp
(1956)
Writer
Throne of Blood
(1957)
Screenplay
The Unbalanced Wheel
(1957)
Screenplay
The Eleventh Hour
(1957)
Novel
Last Days of the Samurai
(1957)
Screenplay
The Days of Evil Women
(1958)
Screenplay
The Undefeated Woman
(1958)
Writer
The Hidden Fortress
(1958)
Screenplay
The Three Treasures
(1959)
Writer
The Story of Iron Arm Inao
(1959)
Writer
Across the Darkness
(1959)
Writer
The Bad Sleep Well
(1960)
Writer
Afraid to Die
(1960)
Writer
Life of a Country Doctor
(1960)
Screenplay
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
(1960)
Screenplay
Chikûho no kodomotachi
(1960)
Screenplay
Yojimbo
(1961)
Screenplay
Kaei
(1961)
Screenplay
Sanjuro
(1962)
Screenplay
Yoru no keisha
(1962)
Screenplay
Shin kitsune to tanuki
(1962)
Screenplay
High and Low
(1963)
Screenplay
Legacy of the 500,000
(1963)
Screenplay
She Came For Love
(1963)
Screenplay
Ichi ka bachi ka
(1963)
Screenplay
A Fistful of Dollars
(1964)
Original Story
Fumiko's Five Benefactors
(1964)
Writer
The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers
(1964)
Writer
Hoodlum Soldier
(1965)
Screenplay
Red Beard
(1965)
Screenplay
Gateway to Glory
(1969)
Screenplay
The Magoichi Saga
(1969)
Screenplay
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Screenplay
Man on a False Flight
(1971)
Original Story and Screenplay
Kaoyaku
(1971)
Screenplay
Stray Dog
(1973)
Original Story
Que C'est Triste Paris
(1976)
Screenplay
Ame no meguri ai
(1977)
Original Story and Screenplay
Dog Whistle
(1978)
Writer
Willful Murder
(1981)
Screenplay
Shi no dangai
(1982)
Original Story
The Warrior and the Sorceress
(1984)
Original Film Writer
The Greatest Man in the World
(1986)
Screenplay
Princess from the Moon
(1987)
Writer
My Phoenix
(1989)
Screenplay
The Demon Comes in Spring
(1989)
Screenplay
Last Man Standing
(1996)
Original Film Writer
Tsubaki Sanjuro
(2007)
Writer
The Last Princess
(2008)
Original Story
Directing
Production