Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
1943 · Feature film · 79 min · dir. Akira Kurosawa
- Action
- martial arts film
- historical drama
Synopsis
A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.
Synopsis from TMDb
Details
- Director
- Akira Kurosawa
- Writer
- Tsuneo Tomita
- Composer
- Seiichi Suzuki
- Cinematography
- Akira Mimura
- Studio
- TOHO
- Released
- 1943-03-25
- Original title
- 姿三四郎
- Series
- Sanshiro Sugata Collection
- Running time
- 79 minutes
Cast & crew
Akira Kurosawa Director- Akitake Kōno
Ryūnosuke Tsukigata
Yukiko Todoroki
Ichirō Sugai
Yoshio Kosugi
Susumu Fujita
Kokuten Kōdō
Denjirō Ōkōchi
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★ · Sanshiro Sugata · Dijo Ann Johns · 2026-06-02
Kurosawa’s debut, Sanshiro Sugata, doesn’t quite grip the way his later masterpieces do. The film’s potential is undercut by wartime politics, heavy censorship, and re‑edits that leave the story feeling patchy. What remains is a moderate martial arts drama—interesting as a historical artefact, but far from compelling compared to the Kurosawa we’d come to know.
