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Top 10 Facts about Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa who was born on March 23, 1910, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Empire of Japan, was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades.

He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in film history. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and editor.

Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. Let’s take a look at some of the top facts about him;

1. He made his Debut as a Director during the World War 2

Akira Kurosawa on the set of 7 samurai.

After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata.

After the war, Akira directed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role.

This cemented the director’s reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films.

2. Akira was Born to a Wealthy Family

He was born to a wealthy family in Oimachi in the Omori district of Tokyo. Akira was the eighth and youngest child of a moderately wealthy family. 

His father Isamu (1864–1948), was a member of a samurai family from Akita Prefecture and worked as the director of the Army’s Physical Education Institute’s lower secondary school. 

His mother Shima (1870–1952) on the other hand came from a merchant’s family living in Osaka. By the time of his birth, two of his siblings were already grown-ups and one was deceased, leaving him to grow up with three sisters and a brother. 

3. His Father was the Inspiration behind his Venture into Filmmaking 

Akira’s father was one of the inspirations behind his son’s love for filmmaking. In addition to promoting physical exercise, Isamu Kurosawa was open to Western traditions and considered theatre and motion pictures to have educational merit.

He encouraged his children to watch films; young Akira viewed his first movies at the age of six. An important formative influence was also his elementary school teacher Mr Tachikawa,

His progressive educational practices ignited in his young pupil first love of drawing and then an interest in education in general. During this time, the boy also studied calligraphy and Kendo swordsmanship.

4. He became the Only One of the Kurosawa Brothers still Living at Age of 23

Akira Kurosawa, Ishiro Honda, Senkichi Taniguchi, and Kajiro Yamamoto. Courtesy: Kurosawa.

Akira, at age 23 became the only one of the Kurosawa brothers still living, together with his three surviving sisters, when his brother Heigo committed suicide and only four months later his other brother also died. 

Kurosawa commented on the lasting sense of loss he felt at his brother’s death and the chapter of his autobiography (Something Like an Autobiography) that describes it—written nearly half a century after the event—is titled, “A Story I Don’t Want to Tell”.

5. He Married Actress Yoko Yaguchi on May 21, 1945

Akira married actress Yoko Yaguchi who he met while directing and together they married on 21st May 1945.

With Yaguchi two months pregnant, she could not resume her acting career and never did again in her life. The couple would remain together until she died in 1985.

They were blessed with two children, a son, Hisao, born December 20, 1945, who served as a producer on some of his father’s last projects, and Kazuko, a daughter, born April 29, 1954, who became a costume designer. 

6. Akira Together with his Friends formed the Film Art Association

Akira Kurosawa, together with his friends, producer Sojiro Motoki and fellow directors Kajiro Yamamoto, Mikio Naruse and Senkichi Taniguchi, formed a new independent production unit called Film Art Association (Eiga Geijutsu Kyokai).

For this organization’s debut work, and the first film for Daiei studios, Kurosawa turned to a contemporary play by Kazuo Kikuta and, together with Taniguchi, adapted it for the screen.

The organisation could go on to produce some of Akira’s best films. Akira Kurosawa’s second film of 1950, Rashomon, would ultimately win him, and Japanese cinema, a whole new international audience. 

Kurosawa though primarily known as a filmmaker, also worked in theatre and television and wrote books.

7. He Won Several Awards in his Career 

He won several awards in his career his movie Rashomon, which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial. 

In 1990, he won the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named “Asian of the Century” in the “Arts, Literature, and Culture” category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN. 

Two film awards have also been named in Kurosawa’s honour. The Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film Directing is awarded during the San Francisco International Film Festival, while the Akira Kurosawa Award is given during the Tokyo International Film Festival

Many filmmakers have since been influenced by Kurosawa’s work over the years. Some of the best filmmakers including Roman Polanski have inspired Akira. 

8. The Kurosawa Film Studio and Anaheim University’s Akira Kurosawa School of Film was Launched in his Honor 

In 1981, the Kurosawa Film Studio was opened in Yokohama; two additional locations have since been launched in Japan.

A large collection of archive material, including scanned screenplays, photos and news articles, has been made available through the Akira Kurosawa Digital Archive, a Japanese proprietary website maintained by Ryukoku University Digital Archives Research Center in collaboration with Kurosawa Production.

Anaheim University’s Akira Kurosawa School of Film was launched in the spring of 2009 with the backing of Kurosawa Production. It offers online programs in digital filmmaking, with headquarters in Anaheim and a learning centre in Tokyo. 

9. Short and Full-Length Documentaries about Akira’s Life have been made

A significant number of short and full-length documentaries concerning the life and work of Kurosawa were made both during his artistic heyday and after his death.

AK, by French video essay director Chris Marker, was filmed while Kurosawa was working on Ran; however, the documentary is more concerned about Kurosawa’s distant yet polite personality than the making of the film. 

10. He died on September 6th 1998 Aged 88

Anyone-in Kamakura Kurosawa Akira’s Grave. Courtesy: Urashimataro.

Akira died on September 6th 1998 in his home in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. He is succeeded with his two children, a son and a daughter. 

Akira is remembered for his works in the film industry. He directed more than 30 films in his career.