Yojimbo
Yojimbo

用心棒
Yōjinbō
Bodyguard
Director | Akira Kurosawa |
Producer |
Tomoyuki Tanaka Ryuzo Kikushima |
Screenplay |
Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa |
Photography | Kazuo Miyagawa |
Art | Yoshiro Muraki |
Sound |
Choshichiro Mikami Hisashi Shimonaga |
Lighting | Choshiro Ishii |
Music | Masaru Sato |
Assistant Director | Shiro Moritani |
Swordmaster | Ryu Kuze |
Production Companies | Toho, Kurosawa Productions |
Release Date | April 25, 1961 |
Runtime | 110 minutes |
Followed by | Sanjuro (1962) |
![]() 用心棒 Yōjinbō Bodyguard |
Director | Akira Kurosawa |
Producer |
Tomoyuki Tanaka Ryuzo Kikushima |
Screenplay |
Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa |
Photography | Kazuo Miyagawa |
Art | Yoshiro Muraki |
Sound |
Choshichiro Mikami Hisashi Shimonaga |
Lighting | Choshiro Ishii |
Music | Masaru Sato |
Assistant Director | Shiro Moritani |
Swordmaster | Ryu Kuze |
Production Companies | Toho, Kurosawa Productions |
Release Date | April 25, 1961 |
Runtime | 110 minutes |
Followed by | Sanjuro (1962) |
A wandering ronin arrives at a village caught in the rivalry between two gangs: Ushitora on the one hand, and Seibei on the other. The ronin take a room with Gonji at his tavern and learns of the town’s troubles; each gang controls their own mayor, so the town is torn between two rival officials as well. The ronin decides to shake things up and earn some money at the expense of the two gangs. He makes himself known by slaying three of Ushitora’s men in broad daylight, and then offers his services to Seibei, giving his name as Sanjuro. Seibei buys Sanjuro for an exorbitant sum, and decides to strike at Ushitora that same day. However, Sanjuro overhears Seibei’s plot to eliminate Sanjuro when the fight is over and take back his money. Sanjuro waits until the gangs are lined up ready to fight before publicly denouncing Seibei for his plot and leaving his service. Unwilling to retreat, Seibei careens towards an all-out war with Ushitora. However, the confrontation is interrupted by the announcement that a government representative is on his way to inspect the village. Seibei and Ushitora are forced to shelve their grudge so they can cooperate for the inspection. Sanjuro’s plan to destroy both gangs is foiled.
Ushitora meets Sanjuro and informs him that the inspector is leaving soon to inspect a murder case the next town over, and wants to buy Sanjuro for himself. Sanjuro decides to play the gangs off each other again, hoping to raise tensions to the point he needs for a bigger fight. Ushitora’s brother, Unosuke, returns from his year-long-trip and brokers a truce between the gangs, again foiling Sanjuro’s plans. Sanjuro apprehends two of Ushitora’s men who confessed to the murder in the next town, and sells them to Seibei as leverage against Ushitora. Ushitora retaliates by kidnapping Seibei’s son. The stage is set for a handoff, which Unosuke foils by shooting Seibei’s prisoners with a pistol. Seibei responds by presenting Nui, a prostitute he has kidnapped from Ushitora’s safe house. Nui is the mistress of Ushitora’s governor. A proper prisoner exchange is setup for the next day, during which it’s revealed that Nui has a husband and child that she was stolen from. Sanjuro is revolted at the situation and takes matters into his own hands.
Sanjuro accepts Ushitora’s offer of employment, and uses the opportunity to gain access to the safe house, where he murders the samurai guarding Nui and releases her to escape with her husband and child. Sanjuro stages the scene to look as if Seibei’s men had committed the act. Tensions between Ushitora’s and Seibei’s gangs teeter on the edge of another all-out war. However, Unosuke comes across proof that Sanjuro caused the incident at the safe house and apprehends him. Sanjuro is tortured, but manages to escape and take shelter in a graveyard. Ushitora attacks Seibei and utterly destroys his gang and his family. Ushitora takes Gonji captive and tortures him to find Sanjuro. Sanjuro returns in full health and duels with Unosuke, using a throwing knife to paralyze his pistol hand. Sanjuro slays the rest of Ushitora’s gang, freeing the town once and for all.
Top Billed Cast
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Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically
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Top Billed Cast

Sanjuro Kuwabatake

Unosuke

Kodaira's Wife

Orin

Inokichi

Seibei

Sake Merchant Tokuemon

Yoichiro

Farmer's Son

Gonji

Silk Merchant Tazaemon

Corrupt Bailiff

Coffin Merchant

Honma

Ushitora

Ushitora Informant

Ushitora Informant

Corrupt Official

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Enforcer

Kodaira

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Horseback Messenger

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Farmer

Corrupt Official

Farmer's Wife

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Seibei Underling

Corrupt Official

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling
Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Seibei Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling

Ushitora Underling
製作 Producer |
田中友幸 Tomoyuki Tanaka |
菊島隆三 Ryuzo Kikushima |
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脚本 Screenplay |
菊島隆三 Ryuzo Kikushima |
黒澤明 Akira Kurosawa |
|
撮影 Photography |
宮川一夫 (大映) Kazuo Miyagawa (Daiei) |
美術 Art |
村木与四郎 Yoshiro Muraki |
録音 Sound |
三上長七郎 Choshichiro Mikami |
下永尚 Hisashi Shimonaga |
|
照明 Lighting |
石井長四郎 Choshiro Ishii |
音楽 Music |
佐藤勝 Masaru Sato |
監督助手 Assistant Director |
森谷司郎 Shiro Moritani |
剣技指導 Sword Instruction |
杉野嘉男 Yoshio Sugino |
現像 Developing |
キヌタ・ラボラトリー Kinuta Laboratory |
製作担当者 Production Manager |
根津博 Hiroshi Nezu |
出演者 Performers |
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三船敏郎 Toshiro Mifune |
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仲代達矢 Tatsuya Nakadai |
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司葉子 Yoko Tsukasa |
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山田五十鈴 Isuzu Yamada |
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加東大介 Daisuke Kato |
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河津清三郎 Seizaburo Kawazu |
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志村喬 Takashi Shimura |
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太刀川寛 Hiroshi Tachikawa |
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夏木陽介 Yosuke Natsuki |
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東野英治郎 Eijiro Tono |
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藤原釜足 Kamatari Fujiwara |
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沢村いき雄 Ikio Sawamura |
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渡辺篤 Atsushi Watanabe |
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藤田進 Susumu Fujita |
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山茶花究 Kyu Sazanka |
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西村晃 Ko Nishimura |
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加藤武 Takeshi Kato |
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中谷一郎 Ichiro Nakatani |
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堺左千夫 Sachio Sakai |
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谷晃 Akira Tani |
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羅生門綱五郎 Tsunagoro Rashomon |
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土屋嘉男 Yoshio Tsuchiya |
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清水元 Gen Shimizu |
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ジェリー藤尾 Jerry Fujio |
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佐田豊 Yutaka Sada |
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大友伸 Shin Otomo |
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広瀬正一 Shoichi Hirose |
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天本英世 Hideyo Amamoto |
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大木正司 Shoji Oki |
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大橋史典 Fuminori Ohashi |
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寄山弘 Hiroshi Kiyama |
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大村千吉 Senkichi Omura |
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本間文子 Noriko Honma |
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西条竜介 Ryosuke Saijo |
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草川直也 Naoya Kusakawa |
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桐野洋雄 Nadao Kirino |
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津田光男 Mitsuo Tsuda |
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高木新平 Shinpei Takagi |
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大友純 Jun Otomo |
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草間璋夫 Akio Kusama |
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小川安三 Yasuzo Ogawa |
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高木弘 Hiroshi Takagi |
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向井淳一郎 Junichiro Mukai |
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熊谷二良 Jiro Kumagai |
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千葉一郎 Ichiro Chiba |
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坂本晴哉 Haruya Sakamoto |
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緒方燐作 Rinsaku Ogata |
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小串文夫 Fumio Kogushi |
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照井洋子 Yoko Terui |
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峯丘ひろみ Hiromi Mineoka |
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河美智子 Michiko Kawa |
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剣技 Sword Instruction |
久世竜 Ryu Kuze |
振付 Choreography |
金須宏 Hiroshi Kanse |
監督 Director |
黒澤明 Akira Kurosawa |