Toshirō Mifune

Legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune starred in over 150 films during the golden age of Japanese cinema. He is most famous for his 16 collaborations with director Akira Kurosawa including, "Rashomon", "The Seven Samurai", "The Hidden Fortress", “Yojimbo” and “Red Beard”.

Toshiro was born in 1920, April 1st in China and spent his childhood in Dailen. When the war was over in 1945, he stepped foot into Japan for the first time and applied for a cinematographers position at Toho studios. Ironically his application was submitted to the actorʼs division, which lead to the beginning of his career.

After making his debut in “Snow Trail”, Toshiro starred in Kurosawaʼs “Drunken Angel” which brought him to instant stardom. He became the main actor for most of Kurosawaʼs films, but also collaborated with many iconic Japanese directors including Hiroshi Inagaki, Kihachi Okamoto, and Ishiro Honda. The film “Rickshaw Man” received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and “The Samurai Trilogy” received the Best Foreign Picture award at the Academy Awards.

His first international film was a Mexican film called “Animas Trujano” and he later made appearances in many Hollywood films including “Grand Prix” directed by John Frankenheimer, “Hell in the Pacific”, directed by John Boorman, “1941” directed by Steven Spielberg and “Red Sun” directed by Terence Young. His international fame peaked when he appeared in the Emmy winning series “SHOGUN”. He also received the offer to play Obi One Kenobi in George Lucasʼ “Star Wars”.

Toshiro received his posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 2016 and still remains as the international Samurai icon.

The year 2020 marks Toshiro Mifuneʼs centennial.