List of works by Akira Kurosawa

The following is a list of works, both in film and other media, for which the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa made some documented creative contribution. This includes a complete list of films with which he was involved, as well as his little-known contributions to theater, television and literature.

Filmography

As director

All the following are Japanese productions unless otherwise specified.

Year	English title	Japanese title	Romanized title	Director	Writer
1943	Sanshiro Sugata		Sugata Sanshirō
1944	The Most Beautiful		Ichiban utsukushiku
1945	Sanshiro Sugata Part II		Zoku Sugata Sanshirō
1945	The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail		Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi
1946	Those Who Make Tomorrow		Asu o tsukuru hitobito
1946	No Regrets for Our Youth		Waga seishun ni kuinashi
1947	One Wonderful Sunday		Subarashiki nichiyōbi
1948	Drunken Angel		Yoidore tenshi
1949	The Quiet Duel		Shizukanaru kettō
1949	Stray Dog		Nora inu
1950	Scandal		Sukyandaru
1950	Rashomon		Rashōmon
1951	The Idiot		Hakuchi
1952	Ikiru		Ikiru
1954	Seven Samurai		Shichinin no samurai
1955	I Live in Fear		Ikimono no kiroku
1957	Throne of Blood		Kumonosu-jō
1957	The Lower Depths		Donzoko
1958	The Hidden Fortress		Kakushi toride no san akunin
1960	The Bad Sleep Well		Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru
1961	Yojimbo		Yōjinbō
1962	Sanjuro		Tsubaki Sanjūrō
1963	High and Low		Tengoku to jigoku
1965	Red Beard		Akahige
1970	Dodes'ka-den		Dodesukaden
1975	Dersu Uzala		Derusu Uzāra
1980	Kagemusha		Kagemusha
1985	Ran		Ran
1990	Dreams		Yume
1991	Rhapsody in August		Hachigatsu no rapusodī
1993	Madadayo		Mādadayo

As producer

Note: Data for the remainder of this filmography is derived primarily from the complete filmography created by Kurosawa's biographer, Stuart Galbraith IV, supplemented by IMDb's Kurosawa page.
For the following films that Kurosawa directed, he also received a production credit:Stray Dog Throne of Blood The Lower Depths The Hidden Fortress The Bad Sleep Well Yojimbo Sanjuro High and Low Red Beard Dodesukaden Kagemusha.
In addition, Kurosawa received a production credit on one film that he himself did not direct: Haru no tawamure, written and directed by Kajiro Yamamoto, on which he served as an associate producer.

As screenwriter

Kurosawa wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for all the films he himself directed. However, to supplement his income, he also wrote scripts for other Japanese directors throughout the 1940s, and even through the 1950s and part of the 1960s, long after he had become world-famous. He also worked on the scripts for two Hollywood productions he was slated to direct, but which, for complex reasons, were completed by and credited to other directors. Finally, near the end of his life, he completed scripts he intended to direct but did not live to make, which were then filmed by others. A table of all these screenplays is given below; all titles are Japanese productions unless otherwise noted.

Year	English title	Japanese title	Romanized title	Director	Notes	Ref.
1941	Horse		Uma	Kajirō Yamamoto	Uncredited, but written alongside his mentor Kajirō Yamamoto.
1942	Wind Currents of Youth		Seishun no kiryu	Shu Fushimizu	Based on "Construction of Love" and "The Life Plan" by Jun Minamikawa.
1942	The Triumphant Song of the Wings		Tsubasa no gaika	Satsuo Yamamoto	Credited alongside Bonhei Sotoyama.
1943	Sanshiro Sugata		Sugata Sanshirō	Akira Kurosawa	Based on the novel Sugata Sanshirō by judoka Tsuneo Tomita.
1944	Wrestling-ring Festival		Dohyōmatsuri	Santaro Marune
1944	The Most Beautiful		Ichiban utsukushiku	Akira Kurosawa
1945	Bravo! Tasuke Isshin		Appare Isshin Tasuke	Kiyoshi Saeki
1945	Sanshiro Sugata Part II		Zoku Sugata Sanshirō	Akira Kurosawa	Based on the novel Sugata Sanshirō by judoka Tsuneo Tomita.
1945	The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail		Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi	Akira Kurosawa	Based on the kabuki play Kanjinchō.
1946	No Regrets for Our Youth		Waga seishun ni kuinashi	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Eijiro Hisaita. Keiji Matsuzaki has an uncredited writer role.
1947	Four Love Stories "First Love"		Yotsu no koi no monogatari	Shiro Toyoda	Omnibus film. Credited for first of four sections.
1947	One Wonderful Sunday		Subarashiki nichiyōbi	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Keinosuke Uegusa.
1947	Snow Trail		Ginrei no hate	Senkichi Taniguchi	Received main credit. Senkichi Taniguchi has an uncredited writer role.
1948	The Portrait		Shōzō	Keisuke Kinoshita
1948	Drunken Angel		Yoidore tenshi	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Keinosuke Uegusa.
1949	Lady from Hell		Jigoku no kifujin	Motoyoshi Oda	Credited alongside Motosada Nishikame.
1949	The Quiet Duel		Shizukanaru kettō	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Senkichi Taniguchi. Based on a play by Kazuo Kikuta.
1949	Jakoman and Tetsu		Jakoman to Tetsu	Senkichi Taniguchi	Credited alongside Senkichi Taniguchi. Based on "Herring Fishery" by Keizo Kajino.
1949	Stray Dog		Nora inu	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ryūzō Kikushima.
1950	Escape at Dawn		Akatsuki no dassō	Senkichi Taniguchi	Credited alongside Senkichi Taniguchi. Based on a story by Yasujiro Tamura.
1950	Scandal		Sukyandaru	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ryūzō Kikushima.
1950	Tetsu of Jilba		Jiruba no Tetsu	Isamu Kosugi
1950	Rashomon		Rashomon	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Shinobu Hashimoto. Based on the short stories "In a Grove" and "Rashōmon" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
1950	Fencing Master		Tateshi danpei	Masahiro Makino
1951	Beyond Love and Hate		Ai to nikushimi no kanata e	Senkichi Taniguchi	Credited alongside Senkichi Taniguchi.
1951	The Idiot		Hakuchi	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Eijiro Hisaita. Based on The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
1951	The Den of Beasts		Kedamono no yado	Tatsuo Osone
1952	Vendetta for a Samurai		Araki Mataemon: Kettô kagiya no tsuji	Kazuo Mori
1952	Sword for Hire		Sengoku burai	Hiroshi Inagaki	Credited alongside Hiroshi Inagaki. Based on a novel by Yasushi Inoue, serialized in Sunday Mainichi.
1952	Ikiru		Ikiru	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Ogumi.
1953	Blow! Spring Wind		Fukeyo harukaze	Senkichi Taniguchi	Credited alongside Senkichi Taniguchi.
1954	Seven Samurai		Shichinin no samurai	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Ogumi.
1955	Vanished Enlisted Man		Kieta chūtai	Akira Minura	Credited alongside Ryūzō Kikushima.
1955	I Live in Fear		Ikimono no kiroku	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Ogumi.
1955	Hiba Arborvitae Story		Asunaro monogatari	Hiromichi Horikawa
1955	Sanshiro Sugata		Sugata Sanshirō	Shigeo Tanaka	First remake of Sanshiro Sugata based on Kurosawa's script.
1957	Throne of Blood		Kumonosu-jō	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryūzō Kikushima and Hideo Ogumi. Loosely based on Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
1957	The Lower Depths		Donzoko	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni. Based on The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky.
1957	Three Hundred Miles through Enemy Lines		Tekichū ōdan sanbyaku ri	Issei Mori	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni.
1958	The Hidden Fortress		Kakushi toride no san akunin	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Shinobu Hashimoto.
1959	Saga of the Vagabonds		Sengoku guntōden	Toshio Sugie	Credited alongside Sadao Yamanaka. Based on a story by Juro Miyoshi.
1960	The Bad Sleep Well		Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisata, Ryūzō Kikushima, and Shinobu Hashimoto.
1961	Yojimbo		Yōjinbō	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima.
1962	Sanjuro		Tsubaki Sanjurō	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima. Based on a novel by Shūgorō Yamamoto.
1962	Fencing Master		Tateshi danpei	Harumi Mizuho	A remake of Fencing Master, which was written by Kurosawa.
1963	High and Low		Tengoku to jigoku	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima. Based on the novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain.
1964	Jakoman and Tetsu		Jakoman to Tetsu	Kinji Fukasaku	A remake of Jakoman and Tetsu, which was written by Kurosawa and Senkichi Taniguchi. Originally based on "Herring Fishery" by Keizo Kajino.
1965	Red Beard		Akahige	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Masato Ide. Based on the novel by Shūgorō Yamamoto.
1965	Sanshiro Sugata		Sugata Sanshirō	Seiichirō Uchikawa	Second remake of Sanshiro Sugata based on Kurosawa's script. Kurosawa served as editor.
1970	Tora! Tora! Tora!		Tora! Tora! Tora!	Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku, Akira Kurosawa	Credit received by Larry Forrester, Hideo Oguni, Ryūzō Kikushima; Kurosawa's credit for directing and writing was removed after his firing in December 1969. Based on the books Tora! Tora! Tora by Gordon W. Prange and The Broken Seal by Ladislas Farago.
1970	Dodes'ka-den		Dodesukaden	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Hideo Ogumi and Shinobu Hashimoto. Based on the novel The Town Without Seasons by Shūgorō Yamamoto.
1975	Dersu Uzala		Derusu Uzāra	Akira Kurosawa	Japanese-Soviet co-production. Credited alongside Yuri Nagibin. Based on the novel Dersu Uzala by Vladimir Arsenyev.
1980	Kagemusha		Kagemusha	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Masato Ide.
1985	Ran		Ran	Akira Kurosawa	French-Japanese co-production. Credited alongside Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide. Loosely based on the play King Lear by William Shakespeare.
1985	Runaway Train			Andrei Konchalovsky	American production. Originally set to be directed by Kurosawa. Contributions by Ryūzō Kikushima and Hideo Oguni are uncredited.
1990	Dreams		Yume	Akira Kurosawa	Sole writer.
1991	Rhapsody in August		Hachigatsu no rapusodī	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ishirō Honda. Based on the novel Nabe no naka by Kiyoko Murata.
1993	Madadayo		Mādadayo	Akira Kurosawa	Credited alongside Ishirō Honda. Based on works by Hyakken Uchida.
2000	After the Rain		Ame agaru	Takashi Koizumi	Posthumous script and final screenplay by Kurosawa. Based on a short story by Shūgorō Yamamoto.
2000	Dora-heita		Doraheita	Kon Ichikawa	Credited alongside Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, and Masaki Kobayashi. Based on the novel Diary of a Town Magistrate by Shūgorō Yamamoto.
2002	The Sea Is Watching		Umi wa miteta	Kei Kumai	Sole writer. Posthumous credit.

In addition, Kurosawa wrote the following unproduced scripts, composed during the pre-war period in the 1930s and also the wartime period in the 1940s, either when he was still an assistant director or had just graduated to full director. Some of these won prizes in screenwriting contests, establishing his reputation as a promising talent even though they were never filmed.Deruma-dera no doitsujin – A German at Daruma TempleShizukanari – All Is QuietYuki – SnowMori no senichia – A Thousand and One Nights in the ForestJajauma monogatari – The Story of a Bad HorseDokkoi kono yari – The Lifted SpearSan Paguita no hana – The San Pajuito FlowerUtsukishiki koyomi – Beautiful CalendarDaisan hatoba – ''The Third Harbor''

As editor

Kurosawa edited nearly all his own films, though he only occasionally took screen credit for it. There are, however, a few instances in which he edited the work of others, as listed below.Horse, directed by Kajiro Yamamoto, co-director )Snow Trail, directed and co-edited by Senkichi Taniguchi Hiba Arborvitae Story, directed by Hiromichi Horikawa

Theater work

During the mid-to-late 1940s, for the first and apparently the only time in his career, Akira Kurosawa involved himself in a number of theater-related projects.Shaberu – In 1945, immediately after the war, Kurosawa wrote a one-act play entitled Talking, for, in his words, "Kawaguchi's troupe". The central character of the drama is a fish merchant who, during the war, greatly admires Prime Minister Tōjō. In emulation of his patriarchal hero, the merchant plays the tyrant at home, but when the war ends, his angry family members air their long pent-up grievances against him. Kurosawa called it "a comic treatment of... Japanese who all begin talking at once", because "we who had been able to express nothing of what we were thinking up to that time all began talking at once."Yoidore Tenshi – During the Toho strike of 1948, when Kurosawa could not work, he wrote and directed a stage adaptation of his acclaimed 1948 film, with Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune playing the same roles they played in the movie. The production ran for brief periods in a number of Japanese cities, apparently with great success.Predlozhenia by Anton Chekhov – Also during the Toho strike, Kurosawa directed a production of this popular early Chekhov farce. Neither the actors who appeared in the production nor its reception by the public is known.

Television work

A documentary about horses called Song of the Horse, directed by Kurosawa, was broadcast in Japan, supposedly on August 31, 1970. Very little is known about the film, and its release date is even in question. For instance, though the film is often said to have aired in August 1970, it is thought that the film features footage of events that did not take place until the summer of 1971. It was considered a lost film for decades and was not available on home video in any form. At some point in the 2010s, the film was rediscovered. It was remastered and released on DVD by the American independent company SamuraiDVD in 2017, complete with English subtitles.

Books

Prior to writing the screenplay to his film, Stray Dog, Kurosawa created, in about six weeks, a novel based on the same story, which he never published. It was written in the style of one of his favorite writers, the French crime author Georges Simenon. Writing it was supposed to help him compose the script as quickly as possible, but he found that writing the screenplay took even longer than usual because of the complex differences between literature and film.
In 1980, inspired by the memoir of one of his heroes, Jean Renoir, he began to publish in serial form his autobiography, entitled Gama no abura. The book deals with the period from the director's birth to his winning the Golden Lion for Rashomon from the Venice Film Festival in 1951; the period from 1951 through 1980 is not covered. The title of the book is a reference to a legend according to which, if one places a deformed toad in a box full of mirrors, it will become so afraid of its own reflection that it will begin to sweat, and this sweat allegedly had medicinal properties. Kurosawa compared himself to the toad, nervous about having to contemplate, through the process of writing his life story, his own multiple "reflections." It was published as a book in Japan in 1981, and in English translation the following year under the title Something Like an Autobiography. The book's appearance coincided with the revival of interest in Kurosawa's work following the international release of Kagemusha.
In 1999, his book, Yume wa tensai de aru was published posthumously. It has not been translated into English, except for Chapter 3. This chapter consists of a selection of 100 of the director's favorite films, listed in chronological order, with detailed commentaries on each film, all given at the request of Kurosawa's daughter, Kazuko. This chapter, but not the remainder of the book, can be found in English on the Internet.
Complete Drawings was published by Shogakukan in 1999.
The screenplays of many of Kurosawa's films have been published in English. For further information, consult the Wikipedia articles relating to the individual films.