Background
Toshiro Mifune, was born on 1 April 1920 in Qingdao, Shandong, China. He was a son of Tokuzo and Sen Mifune. He also had two younger siblings.
1946
Toshiro Mifune
1949
Toshirô Mifune and Takashi Shimura in Stray Dog.
1950
Toshiro Mifune and Shirley Yamaguchi in Scandal.
1950
Toshirô Mifune and Machiko Kyô in Rashomon.
1952
Toshirô Mifune and Kinuyo Tanaka in The Life of Oharu.
1954
Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Yoshio Inaba, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Takashi Shimura in Seven Samurai.
1954
Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Takashi Shimura in Seven Samurai.
1955
Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura in I Live in Fear.
1955
Toshiro Mifune in I Live in Fear.
1957
Toshiro Mifune and Haruo Tanaka in Donzoko.
1957
Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood.
1960
Toshiro Mifune, Kyôko Kagawa, and Kô Nishimura in The Bad Sleep Well.
1960
Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, wearing a suit and a striped tie, portrayed while smoking a cigarette with the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, wearing a suit and a fancy tie, Venice.
1961
Toshirô Mifune, Daisuke Katô, and Tatsuya Nakadai in Yojimbo.
1961
Toshiro Mifune, sitting on a gondola with a cinecamera next to him, a gondolier rowing behind him and St. Mark Square in the background, Venice.
1961
Toshiro Mifune, wearing the upper part of the kimono, the haori, in his hotel room during the Movie Festival, Biennale, September.
1961
Toshiro Mifune, wearing a traditional haori kimono with a fan in his belt, lifting the Volpi Cup as best actor during the Movie Festival, Biennale, September.
1963
Toshiro Mifune in High and Low.
1965
Toshiro Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, and Haruko Sugimura in Red Beard.
1967
Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai in Samurai Rebellion.
1970
Toshiro Mifune and actress Miiko Taka are welcomed to Hollywood by Glen Ford, his co-star, and Cynthia Hayward.
1971
Ursula Andress, Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, and Toshiro Mifune in Red Sun.
1971
Toshiro Mifune in Red Sun.
1971
Mifune with French actor Alain Delon on the set of Red Sun.
1976
Toshiro Mifune in Midway.
1979
Mifune with Stephen Spielberg
1980
Toshiro Mifune in Shogun.
1980
Toshiro Mifune in Shogun.
1981
Ben Gazzara and Toshiro Mifune in Inchon.
1982
Seiji Miyaguchi, Clyde Kusatsu, and Toshiro Mifune in The Challenge.
217 Jiefang Rd, Zhongshan, Dalian, Liaoning, China
Dalian No. 24 High School where Toshiro Mifune studied.
Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo in Paris.
Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon and Shochiku Chairman Shiro Kido toast glasses during the party marking 15th anniversary of Mifune Production foundation on April 18, 1977 in Tokyo, Japan.
Party in honor of Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune in New York, March 6, 1984.
Director Akira Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune enjoying a quiet moment on the set in the documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai.
The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon that Toshiro Mifune received in 1986.
The Order of the Sacred Treasure that Toshiro Mifune received in 1993.
Toshiro Mifune's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that he received in 2016.
Toshiro Mifune as a young conscript in the 7th Air Brigade of the Imperial Army Air Service (Manchuria).
(The chaotic worlds of the Japanese Mafia (Yakuza) and an ...)
The chaotic worlds of the Japanese Mafia (Yakuza) and an alcoholic doctor collide in this film noir classic from Akira Kurosawa. Gangster Toshiro Mifune visits doctor Takashi Shimura, after an unfortunate incident with a bullet. The doctor, who despises the Yakuza, discovers the young man is suffering from tuberculosis, a disease symbolic of what is happening to the doctor and the community he serves.
https://www.amazon.com/Drunken-Criterion-Collection-Takashi-Shimura/dp/B000VARC3C
1948
(A young idealistic doctor works at his father's clinic in...)
A young idealistic doctor works at his father's clinic in a small and seedy district. During the war, he contracts syphilis from the blood of a patient when he cuts himself during an operation. Treating himself in secret and tormented by his conscience, he rejects his heartbroken fiancée without explanation. He forces the man who infected him to take care of his family.
https://www.amazon.com/Akira-Kurosawas-Quiet-Duel-Eclipse/dp/B00UGQYAN6/ref=tmm_dvd_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
1949
(Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) is a young and inexperienced de...)
Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) is a young and inexperienced detective on the Tokyo police force. While riding a crowded bus on a hot summer day, he discovers that his gun has been stolen out of its holster. Reluctant to lose face by reporting the gun missing, Murakami first dives alone into the depths of postwar Tokyo's poverty-stricken slums and criminal underworld, but when the missing gun is implicated in a crime spree, a more experienced detective (Takashi Shimura) lends his expertise.
https://www.amazon.com/Stray-Dog-Akira-Kurosawa/dp/B01IO62LX0/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Stray+Dog+Akira+Kurosawa&qid=1588103052&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
1949
(Brimming with action while incisively examining the natur...)
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
https://www.amazon.com/Rashomon-The-Criterion-Collection/dp/B01M4QNP9C/ref=tmm_dvd_title_2?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
1950
(Kameda, a war veteran, returns to Japan after being treat...)
Kameda, a war veteran, returns to Japan after being treated for mental illness at an asylum in Okinawa. On his way home, he meets a rich man Akama. Kameda and Akama fall in love with the same girl.
https://www.amazon.com/Idiot-Akira-Kurosawa/dp/B01IO63AF8
1951
(A veteran samurai, gathers six samurais to protect a vill...)
A veteran samurai, gathers six samurais to protect a village from the cruel bandits. As the samurais teach the natives how to defend themselves, the village is attacked by a pack of 40 bandits.
https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Samurai-Blu-ray-Edition/dp/B00LJ07FBC
1954
(Matahachi and Takezo seek shelter in the house of a widow...)
Matahachi and Takezo seek shelter in the house of a widow Oko, after they lose a battle. Oko seduces Matahachi who forgets his vow to his fiancee Otsu and leave for Kyoto. Takezo and Otsu fall in love
https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Musashi-Miyamoto-Criterion-Collection/dp/0780021045
1954
(Musashi Miyamoto (Toshirô Mifune) hones his swordsmanship...)
Musashi Miyamoto (Toshirô Mifune) hones his swordsmanship as he continues his epic quest to become a master warrior. He contends with formidable foes and the competing love of two different women. Trials and challenges leap at him constantly from every angle. Whether it is a mob of swordsmen ambushing him or a talented young duelist slicing his way up the ranks of fighters, Musashi confronts his opponents with his sword and his intense dedication. Defeat is something he will not accept.
https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-II-Ichijoji-Criterion-Collection/dp/6305028699
1955
(The superlative swordsman Musashi (Toshirô Mifune) ceases...)
The superlative swordsman Musashi (Toshirô Mifune) ceases his wanderings and settles into a peaceful life of gardening in a small village. But when a group of bandits threatens to overrun the vulnerable village, Musashi employs his skills to defend his neighbors. Then his arch rival (Koji Tsurata) challenges him to a duel, and Musashi accepts. They meet on an island for their final confrontation, and by the time the sun has set only one will return.
https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-III-Ganryu-Criterion-Collection/dp/0780021061
1956
(Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washiz...)
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu (Toshirô Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki) are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji (Isuzu Yamada), presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place.
https://www.amazon.com/Throne-English-Subtitled-Toshiro-Mifune/dp/B00HUNNP2K
1957
(Japanese peasants Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahe...)
Japanese peasants Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) try and fail to make a profit from a tribal war. They find a man and woman whom they believe are simple tribe members hiding in a fortress. Although the peasants don't know that Rokurota (Toshirô Mifune) is a general and Yuki (Misa Uehara) is a princess, the peasants agree to accompany the pair to safety in return for gold.
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Fortress-Criterion-Collection/dp/B00005B1ZL
1958
(A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifu...)
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), 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 (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
https://www.amazon.com/Yojimbo-Toshiro-Mifune/dp/B001B8MLSE/ref=tmm_dvd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
1961
(Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic eff...)
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
https://www.amazon.com/Sanjuro-English-Subtitled-Toshiro-Mifune/dp/B004D93P7Y
1962
(Samurai Isaburo Sasahara (Toshirô Mifune) faces the wrath...)
Samurai Isaburo Sasahara (Toshirô Mifune) faces the wrath of his clan when he exhibits disobedience in favor of what is right. When the ruling lord forces his son, Ichi (Gô Katô), and his unwanted mistress (Yoko Tsukasa) into marriage, the two fall in love despite all expectations. However, when the callous ruler requests Ichi's return only two years later, Sasahara, unwilling to see his son and daughter-in-law torn apart, is prepared to fight for their union.
https://www.amazon.com/Rebellion/dp/B006M092SS/ref=tmm_dvd_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
1967
(A 16th-century warlord (Kinnosuke Nakamura) and his loyal...)
A 16th-century warlord (Kinnosuke Nakamura) and his loyal general (Toshirô Mifune) fall in love with the daughter of a slain rival.
https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Banners/dp/B01M5ISH1M/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Samurai+Banners&qid=1588104796&sr=8-5
1969
(Feudal Japan. Kamo Serizawa and Isami Kondo turn a collec...)
Feudal Japan. Kamo Serizawa and Isami Kondo turn a collection of student fencers into a band of assassins known as the Shinsen Group, devoted to the Tokugawa shogunate and to an elegant code of action and behavior. Kondo leads the band against the forces of the Emperor in hopes of preventing his restoration to the throne.
https://www.amazon.com/Shinsengumi-Assassins-Honor-Kinya-Kitaoji/dp/B000NDFHVQ
1969
(A bunch of gangsters enter a train in which the Japanese ...)
A bunch of gangsters enter a train in which the Japanese ambassador is travelling and loot a valuable gold sword. His bodyguard goes after them with the help of a samurai.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Sun-Charles-Bronson/dp/B083MZJD2M
1971
(After the father of Riyo (Youki Kudoh) dies, she becomes ...)
After the father of Riyo (Youki Kudoh) dies, she becomes the arranged wife of Matsuji (Akira Takayama), a migrant worker in Hawaii. Riyo travels from Japan to the United States, but finds it difficult adapting to the hard life working on a sugar plantation and living with Matsuji. Riyo becomes friends with another woman, Kana (Tamlyn Tomita), who came over as a bride as well. Riyo begins saving money to return to Japan, but tragic events make her evaluate where she belongs.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Picture-Bride-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B0051HCURS
1994
三船敏郎
Toshiro Mifune, was born on 1 April 1920 in Qingdao, Shandong, China. He was a son of Tokuzo and Sen Mifune. He also had two younger siblings.
Toshiro Mifune studied at Dalian High School from 1934 to 1938. He spent most of his youth in the Japanese-controlled city of Dalian. Helping out in his father’s photography studio, he became well versed in the photographer’s craft.
In 1940, Toshiro Mifune joined the seventh flying squad of the Manchuria Imperial Army Airforce, where he served in the Aerial Photography unit during World War II. During the final phase of the war, he was assigned to a tokkōtai (special attack unit) base in Kyūshū as an instructional officer. Mifune started his career as an actor in 1946 when he played a small part in Shin baka jidai (These Foolish Times). In 1948, Mifune took on a major role in Kurosawa’s Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel). Mifune and Kurosawa joined to become the most prominent actor-director pairing in all Japanese cinema. In 1950 he starred in the film Rashomon. Later he starred in such films as Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo.
Toshiro Mifune also starred in Kurosawa’s adaptations of three Western literary classics such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot, titled Hakuchi and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, titled Throne of Blood. In 1963, he appeared in Kurosawa’s High and Low. The creative collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune lasted for more than 15 years, spanning the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. But the partnership ended with 1965 picture Akahige (Red Beard). However, Mifune starred not only in Kurosawa’s films but also in the Mexican film Animas Trujano: El hombre importante (The Important Man). In 1966, he made his Hollywood debut in John Frankenheimer’s film Grand Prix.
Around the time Mifune was making his overseas debut, the Japanese motion picture industry was facing a crisis. Tōhō Kinuta decided to close its Kinuta studio in Setagaya and advised Mifune to launch a production company to make his own films. In 1963, Mifune Productions released its first film The Legacy of the 500,000. It was only three years later, in 1966, however, that the company opened its own studio, a 6,500-square-meter lot in the Seijō neighborhood of the Setagaya ward. Over the next few years, Mifune Productions released a number of major motion pictures, including Samurai Rebellion. In 1979, Mifune suffered a major professional setback when his righthand man at Mifune Productions defected to establish a rival studio, taking most of Mifune Productions’ actors with him. Reeling from the blow, Mifune Productions went into a sharp decline.
Mifune Productions closed down its studio in 1984. Later Mifune founded an acting school, Mifune Geijutsu Gakuin. The school failed after only three years, due to mismanaged finances. In the 1980s he starred in TV miniseries Shogun, where he performed as Toranaga. In 1990, while on location in Alaska for the filming of Shadow of the Wolf, Mifune fell ill and began to suffer memory lapses. In 1995, he completed his acting career.
(A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifu...)
1961(Brimming with action while incisively examining the natur...)
1950(Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washiz...)
1957(An American boxer (Scott Glenn) enters a ritual feud betw...)
1982(The superlative swordsman Musashi (Toshirô Mifune) ceases...)
1956(A 16th-century warlord (Kinnosuke Nakamura) and his loyal...)
1969(After the father of Riyo (Youki Kudoh) dies, she becomes ...)
1994(The chaotic worlds of the Japanese Mafia (Yakuza) and an ...)
1948(Samurai Isaburo Sasahara (Toshirô Mifune) faces the wrath...)
1967(Japanese peasants Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahe...)
1958(Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic eff...)
1962(Musashi Miyamoto (Toshirô Mifune) hones his swordsmanship...)
1955(A samurai joins a band of revolutionaries who intend to k...)
1965(A bunch of gangsters enter a train in which the Japanese ...)
1971(Kameda, a war veteran, returns to Japan after being treat...)
1951(Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) is a young and inexperienced de...)
1949(Matahachi and Takezo seek shelter in the house of a widow...)
1954(A young idealistic doctor works at his father's clinic in...)
1949(A veteran samurai, gathers six samurais to protect a vill...)
1954(Feudal Japan. Kamo Serizawa and Isami Kondo turn a collec...)
1969
Quotations:
"I'm not always great in pictures, but I'm always true to the Japanese spirit."
"After the War, I looked up my friend and asked if I could be a cameraman too. That's how I got to Toho. But Toho was on strike for most of three years, and lots of the acting stars went elsewhere. My friends submitted my resume and my photograph, unbeknownst to me."
"That the Japanese film is known at all in the West is due mainly to the pictures of Akira Kurosawa. That I am known both here and abroad is also mainly due to him. He taught me practically everything I know, and it was he who first introduced me to myself as an actor. Kurosawa has this quality, this ability to bring things out of you that you never knew were there. It is enormously difficult work, but each picture with him is a revelation. When you see his films, you find them full realizations of ideas, of emotions, of a philosophy which surprises with its strength, even shocks with its power. You had not expected to be so moved, to find within your own self this depth of understanding."
Toshiro Mifune was a member of the MGCC Japan Centre.
Toshiro Mifune didn’t have an extensive martial arts background, but he was able to make his characters look believable and realistic. Stephen K. Hayes said that Mifune was very adept at understanding the feeling of the character, and then they would have martial artists show him the moves, but he would interpret them his way. But it looked so good on the screen and so convincing that people watched it and thought that’s what sword fighting is. Donald Richie also noted that Mifune was not vain, regarded his accomplishment seriously, but not too seriously.
Quotes from others about the person
Akira Kurosawa: "Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression. Mifune needed only three. The speed of his movements was such that he said in a single action what took ordinary actors three separate movements to express. He put forth everything directly and boldly, and his sense of timing was the keenest I had ever seen in a Japanese actor. And yet with all his quickness, he also had surprisingly fine sensibilities."
Toshiro Mifune married Sachiko Yoshimine in 1950. Yoshimine was a Buddhist but since Mifune was a Christian, they were married in a church as per Christian tradition. The marriage produced two sons. By the early 1970s, his heavy drinking and infidelity had taken their toll on his marriage. In January 1972 his wife Sachiko moved out of their home and in with her parents. She then petitioned for a court-mediated divorce. The result was a trial that would drag on for five years. After the divorce mediation began, Mifune moved in with Mika Kitagawa. Sachiko, however, withdrew her petition, declaring that she would remain Mifune Toshiro’s wife until the day she died. Mifune also had a daughter Mika who was born to actress Mika Kitagawa.