Akira Kurosawa

Here's what gets me about Kurosawa: this was a kid who wanted to be a painter, stumbled into a studio job from a newspaper ad, and ended up being the guy half of Hollywood quietly stole from. I mean, Seven Samurai basically wrote the rulebook for every team-assembling action movie since, and Rashomon made "whose version is true?" a thing people argue about to this day. What I love is the sheer obsessiveness of it, every cloud, every gust of wind, every muddy rain-soaked frame composed like he was still that painter at heart. And the man wins lifetime Oscars and still says his best film is the next one. That kind of restless hunger, decades deep into a legendary career, is why I get a little chill every single time I rewatch one of his films.

Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and producer who joined P.C.L. (later Toho) as an assistant director in 1936 and made his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata in 1943. His 1950 film Rashomon won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, bringing him international recognition. Over a career spanning nearly six decades, he created landmark works including Seven Samurai (1954) and Ran (1985), earning major honors such as the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1990 and the posthumous People's Honor Award in 1998.

Name (English)

Akira Kurosawa

Name (Japanese)

黒澤明

Reading

くろさわあきら

Born

March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Dog

Origin

Ōi-machi, Ebara-gun, Tokyo (present-day Higashi-Ōi, Shinagawa, Tokyo), Japan

Blood type

Private

Height

182 cm

Agency

Deceased

Agency history

Toho (from 1936)
Kurosawa Production (established 1959)

Active years

1936–1993

Occupation

Film director / Screenwriter / Film producer

Elementary school

Kuroda Elementary School (graduated 1922)

Junior high

Keika Middle School

High school

Did not attend (entered workforce after graduating middle school)

University

Did not attend

Debut

Joined P.C.L. Film Studio (later Toho) as an assistant director in 1936. Made his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata in 1943.

Awards & achievements

• 1950 Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion (Rashomon)
• 1951 Academy Award Honorary Award — Best Foreign Language Film (Rashomon)
• 1952 Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear — Special Jury Prize (Ikiru)
• 1976 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Dersu Uzala)
• 1980 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or — Grand Prix (Kagemusha)
• 1985 Order of Culture (first film professional to receive the award)
• 1990 Academy Award Honorary Award — Lifetime Achievement
• 1998 People's Honor Award (posthumous; first film director to receive the award)

Timeline

1. 1910Born on March 23 in Ōi-machi, Ebara-gun, Tokyo
2. 1936Joined P.C.L. Film Studio (later Toho); studied under director Kajiro Yamamoto
3. 1943Made his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata
4. 1945Married actress Yoko Yaguchi
5. 1950Rashomon won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, earning him international acclaim
6. 1954Released Seven Samurai, celebrated as a masterpiece of world cinema
7. 1959Founded Kurosawa Production
8. 1985Received the Order of Culture, the first film professional to be honored
9. 1990Received the Academy Award Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement
10. 1998Died on September 6 at his home in Seijo, Setagaya, Tokyo, aged 88

Spouse

Yoko Yaguchi (married 1945; died 1985)

Children

Son Hisao Kurosawa (film producer); daughter Kazuko Kurosawa (film costume designer)

Parents

Father: Isamu Kurosawa (graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy; principal of a physical education school)

Siblings

Youngest of eight siblings

Hobbies

• Painting (aspired to become a painter in his youth)
• Reading
• Gourmet food (particularly meat dishes)

Specialties

• Screenplay writing
• Storyboard illustration

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E6%BE%A4%E6%98%8E

Tags

• Film director
• Sekai no Kurosawa
• Toho
• Rashomon
• Seven Samurai
• Order of Culture
• People's Honor Award
• Showa-era cinema

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.