Takashi Shimura
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese actor.
He was born in Ikuno, Hyogo
, Japan
.
His debut as actor was the film Akanishi Kakita (Capricious Young Man, 1936) and cast in the Kenji Mizoguchi
's film Osaka Elegy
(1936).
In company with Toshirō Mifune
, Shimura is the actor who is most closely associated with Akira Kurosawa
. Shimura appeared in 21 of Kurosawa's 30 films. His roles include the doctor in Drunken Angel
(1948), the veteran detective in Stray Dog
(1949), the flawed lawyer in Scandal
(1950), the woodcutter in Rashomon
(1950), the mortally ill bureaucrat in Ikiru
(1952), and the lead samurai Kambei in Seven Samurai (1954).
In fact, Kurosawa's cinematic collaboration with Shimura, from 1943 to 1980, started earlier and lasted longer than his work with Mifune (1948–65). Shimura appeared in the director's debut film Sanshiro Sugata
(1943), and the last film of Kurosawa's in which he acted was Kagemusha
(1980), for which Kurosawa specifically wrote a part for Shimura. However, the scene was cut from the western release, and so many did not know that he had been part of the film. The DVD release of the film by The Criterion Collection
restored Shimura's footage.
Outside of his career working with Kurosawa, Shimura is probably best known for his roles in several Japanese monster films, including the scientist Kyohei Yamane in the first two Godzilla
films (and the first to reprise the role before Raymond Burr
in the English form of Godzilla and Megumi Odaka in the Heisei Godzilla films).
Shimura died on February 11, 1982 in Tokyo
, Japan, from emphysema
at the age of 76.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese actor.
He was born in Ikuno, Hyogo
Ikuno, Hyogo
was a town located in Asago District, Hyōgo, Japan.On April 1, 2005 Ikuno was merged with the towns of Asago, Santō and Wadayama, all from Asago District, to form the new city of Asago and no longer exists as an independent municipality....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
His debut as actor was the film Akanishi Kakita (Capricious Young Man, 1936) and cast in the Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His film Ugetsu won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and appeared in the Sight & Sound Critics' Top Ten Poll in 1962 and 1972. Mizoguchi is renowned for his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène...
's film Osaka Elegy
Osaka Elegy
is a 1936 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Mizoguchi considered the film his first serious effort as a director, and it was also his first commercial and critical success in Japan...
(1936).
In company with Toshirō Mifune
Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
, Shimura is the actor who is most closely associated with Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
. Shimura appeared in 21 of Kurosawa's 30 films. His roles include the doctor in Drunken Angel
Drunken Angel
is a 1948 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshirō Mifune.- Plot :...
(1948), the veteran detective in Stray Dog
Stray Dog (film)
is a 1949 film noir police procedural directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring frequent collaborators Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura.-Plot:Action takes place during a heatwave in a bombed-out, post-war Tokyo...
(1949), the flawed lawyer in Scandal
Scandal (1950 film)
is a 1950 film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Shirley Yamaguchi.-Plot:Ichiro Aoye , an artist, meets a famous young classical singer, Miyako Saijo whilst working on his paintings in the mountains...
(1950), the woodcutter in Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950), the mortally ill bureaucrat in Ikiru
Ikiru
is a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.-Plot:...
(1952), and the lead samurai Kambei in Seven Samurai (1954).
In fact, Kurosawa's cinematic collaboration with Shimura, from 1943 to 1980, started earlier and lasted longer than his work with Mifune (1948–65). Shimura appeared in the director's debut film Sanshiro Sugata
Sanshiro Sugata
was the directorial debut of the Academy Award-winning Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. First released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, the film was eventually released in the United States on 28 April 1974. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Tsuneo...
(1943), and the last film of Kurosawa's in which he acted was Kagemusha
Kagemusha
is a 1980 film by Akira Kurosawa. The title is a term used for an impersonator. It is set in the Warring States era of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate a dying warlord in order to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable...
(1980), for which Kurosawa specifically wrote a part for Shimura. However, the scene was cut from the western release, and so many did not know that he had been part of the film. The DVD release of the film by The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
restored Shimura's footage.
Outside of his career working with Kurosawa, Shimura is probably best known for his roles in several Japanese monster films, including the scientist Kyohei Yamane in the first two Godzilla
Godzilla (film series)
Original movie poster for [[Godzilla |Godzilla]].|thumb is a popular series of giant monster films featuring the character Godzilla. Starting in 1954, the Godzilla series has become one of the longest running film series in movie history....
films (and the first to reprise the role before Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
in the English form of Godzilla and Megumi Odaka in the Heisei Godzilla films).
Shimura died on February 11, 1982 in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan, from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
at the age of 76.
Partial filmography
- Sanshiro SugataSanshiro Sugatawas the directorial debut of the Academy Award-winning Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. First released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, the film was eventually released in the United States on 28 April 1974. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Tsuneo...
(1943) - The Most BeautifulThe Most Beautifulis a 1944 propaganda drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa.The film is set in an optics factory during the Second World War.The film depicts the struggle for the workers at a lens factory to meet production targets during World War II...
(1944) - The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's TailThe Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tailis a 1945 film, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the kabuki play Kanjinchō, which is in turn based on the Noh play Ataka.The film stars Hanshiro Iwai, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto, and Denjirō Ōkōchi....
(1945) - No Regrets for Our YouthNo Regrets for Our Youthis a 1946 film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the Takigawa incident of 1933.The film stars Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, and Denjirō Ōkōchi...
(1946) - Snow TrailSnow TrailSnow Trail is a 1947 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. It was the first film role for Toshirō Mifune, later to become one of Japan's most famous actors. Mifune and the other main actor in the film Takashi Shimura, later became long-term collaborators of film director...
(1947) - Drunken AngelDrunken Angelis a 1948 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshirō Mifune.- Plot :...
(1948) - The Quiet DuelThe Quiet Duelis a 1949 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa.-Plot:Toshirō Mifune plays a young idealistic doctor who 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...
(1949) - Stray DogStray Dog (film)is a 1949 film noir police procedural directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring frequent collaborators Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura.-Plot:Action takes place during a heatwave in a bombed-out, post-war Tokyo...
- as detective Sato. He won award for Best Actor at the 1950 Mainichi Film Concours. (1949) - Boryoku no MachiBoryoku no Machiis a 1950 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Satsuo Yamamoto.- Cast :* Ryō Ikebe * Akitake Kouno * Hajime Izu * Miki Sanjou * Yasumi Hara * Hatae Kishi * Eitarō Ozawa * Takashi Shimura...
(1950) - ScandalScandal (1950 film)is a 1950 film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Shirley Yamaguchi.-Plot:Ichiro Aoye , an artist, meets a famous young classical singer, Miyako Saijo whilst working on his paintings in the mountains...
(1950) - RashomonRashomon (film)The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950) - Elegy (1951)
- The Idiot (1951)
- IkiruIkiruis a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.-Plot:...
(1952) - The Skin of the SouthThe Skin of the Southis a 1952 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Ishirō Honda.The film crew includes Akira Watanabe as art director, Kentaro Kondo as lightning technician, sound recordist Yoshio Nishikawa and director of photography Kiyoe Kawamura.-Cast:* Hajime Izu...
(Nangoku no hada) (1952) - Seven Samurai (1954)
- GodzillaGodzilla (1954 film)is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
(1954) - Godzilla Raids AgainGodzilla Raids Again, also known in the United States as Gigantis, the Fire Monster, is a 1955 Japanese black-and-white kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, written by Shigeru Koyama, Shigeaki Hidaka and Takeo Murata, and produced by Toho....
(1955) - I Live in FearI Live in Fearis a 1955 Japanese film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Fumio Hayasaka, and Hideo Oguni.The film stars Kurosawa regulars Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura. It is in black-and-white and runs 103 minutes. The film was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film...
(1955) - Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu IslandSamurai III: Duel at Ganryu Islandis a 1956 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirō Mifune. It is the third film of the Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi...
(1956) - The MysteriansThe MysteriansThe Mysterians, released in Japan as , is a tokusatsu science fiction film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1957. It was directed by the "Golden Duo" of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya . It is notable for being the first tokusatsu filmed in TohoScope and the first Toho film to use...
(1957) - Throne of BloodThrone of BloodThrone of Blood is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. Its original Japanese title is Kumonosu-jō , which means "Spider Web Castle". The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth to feudal Japan.-Plot:...
(1957) - Zoku Aoi sanmyaku Shinko no maki (1957)
- The Hidden FortressThe Hidden Fortressis a 1958 jidai-geki film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune as General and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki. A literal translation of the Japanese title is The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress.-Plot:...
(1958) - The Loyal 47 RoninThe Loyal 47 Roninis a 1958 color Jidaigeki Japanese film directed by Kunio Watanabe.- Cast :* Kazuo Hasegawa as Ōishi Kuranosuke * Shintarō Katsu as Genzō Akagaki* Kōji Tsuruta as Kin'emon Okano* Raizō Ichikawa as Takuminokami Asano...
(ChūshinguraChushingurais the name for fictionalized accounts of the historical revenge by the Forty-seven Ronin of the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early , the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media...
) (1958) - Storm Over the PacificStorm Over the Pacificis a 1960 color Japanese film directed by Shūe Matsubayashi.It is the first color widescreen war film from Toho Studios...
(1960) - The Bad Sleep WellThe Bad Sleep Wellis a 1960 film directed by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. It was the first film to be produced under Kurosawa's own independent production company. It was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival....
(1960) - Yojimbo (1961)
- MothraMothra (film)is a 1961 Kaiju film from Toho Studios, directed by genre regular Ishirō Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the kaiju eiga debut of screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, whose approach to the genre grew to prominence during the 1960s...
(1961) - SanjuroSanjurois a 1962 black-and-white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's previous film Yojimbo, with Mifune reprising his role as a wandering ronin...
(1962) - Chushingura: 47 SamuraiChushingurais the name for fictionalized accounts of the historical revenge by the Forty-seven Ronin of the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early , the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media...
(1962) - High and Low (1963)
- Ghidorah, the Three-Headed MonsterGhidorah, the Three-Headed MonsterGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as and originally released in the US as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 science fiction kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho's Godzilla series...
(1964) - Kwaidan (1964)
- Samurai AssassinSamurai Assassinis a 1965 Japanese movie directed by Kihachi Okamoto and starring Toshirō Mifune, Koshiro Matsumoto, Yunosuke Ito, and Michiyo Aratama.Samurai Assassin is set in 1860, immediately before the Meiji Restoration changed Japanese society forever by doing away with the castes in society and reducing the...
(1965) - Red BeardRed Beardis a 1965 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa about the relationship between a town doctor and his new trainee. The film was based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's short story collection, Akahige shinryotan . Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Insulted and the Injured provided the source for a subplot about a...
(1965) - Frankenstein vs. BaragonFrankenstein Conquers the WorldFrankenstein Conquers the World, released in Japan as , with Toho's official English title being Frankenstein vs. Baragon, is a kaiju film produced in 1965 by Toho Company Ltd...
(1965) - ZatoichiZatoichiis a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...
and the Fugitives (1968) - The Sands of KurobeThe Sands of Kurobeis a 1968 Japanese drama film directed by Kei Kumai. It was Japan's submission to the 41st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Cast:* Toshirô Mifune as Kitagawa* Yûjirô Ishihara as Iwaoka...
(1968) - Zatoichi's Conspiracy (1973)
- Prophecies of NostradamusProphecies of Nostradamusalso known as The Last Days of Planet Earth or Catastrophe: 1999 is an experimental 1974 feature film by Toshio Masuda, inspired by the prophecies of Nostradamus. The film credits Toshio Yasumi as principal screenwriter, though Yasumi did not actually work on the film...
(1974) - Love and Faith (1978)
- KagemushaKagemushais a 1980 film by Akira Kurosawa. The title is a term used for an impersonator. It is set in the Warring States era of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate a dying warlord in order to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable...
(1980)