is a 1945 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, written and directed by 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 ;...

. It is based on the kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 play Kanjinchō

Kanjincho

Kanjinchō is a Japanese kabuki play by Namiki Gohei III, based on the Noh play Ataka. It is one of the most popular plays in the modern kabuki repertory....

, which is in turn based on the Noh

Noh

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...

 play Ataka

Ataka (play)

Ataka is a Noh play written in 1465, during the Muromachi Era of Japan by playwright Kanze Nobumitsu.It has been adapted as a Kabuki play, Kanjinchō, and as a movie, Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi, directed by Kurosawa Akira.-Synopsis:...

.

The film stars Hanshiro Iwai, Susumu Fujita

Susumu Fujita

was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, Sanshiro Sugata, and appeared other Kurosawa film including The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail and The Hidden Fortress . Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's Mothra vs...

, Kenichi Enomoto

Kenichi Enomoto

Kenichi Enomoto was a popular Japanese singing comedian, mostly known by his stage name Enoken ....

, and Denjirō Ōkōchi

Denjirō Ōkōchi

was a Japanese film actor most famous for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by such masters as Akira Kurosawa, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino. His real name was Masuo Ōbe...

.

The film was initially banned by the occupying Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...

 (SCAP) due to its portrayal of feudal values. It was later released after the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco

Treaty of San Francisco

The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...

 in 1952.

Plot

The film begins with a shot of the landscape, after which it zooms in on a group of foot travelers and a porter. After walking for a while, they sit to rest, where the porter finds that this is Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...

, Benkei, and his advisors. Their job is to cross a border checkpoint without being found, so they disguise themselves as monks.

Also known as

• They Who Step on the Tail of the Tiger
• They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail
• Walkers on the Tiger's Tail

Cast

• Denjirō Ōkōchi
  Denjirō Ōkōchi
  was a Japanese film actor most famous for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by such masters as Akira Kurosawa, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino. His real name was Masuo Ōbe...
  
   as Benkei
• Susumu Fujita
  Susumu Fujita
  was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, Sanshiro Sugata, and appeared other Kurosawa film including The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail and The Hidden Fortress . Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's Mothra vs...
  
   as Togashi
• Kenichi Enomoto
  Kenichi Enomoto
  Kenichi Enomoto was a popular Japanese singing comedian, mostly known by his stage name Enoken ....
  
   as porter
• Masayuki Mori
  Masayuki Mori (actor)
  was a Japanese actor, the son of Takeo Arishima, a Japanese novelist active during the late Meiji and Taishō periods. Mori appeared in many of Akira Kurosawa's films such as Rashomon and The Idiot...
  
   as Kamei
• Takashi Shimura
  Takashi Shimura
  was a Japanese actor.He was born in Ikuno, Hyogo, Japan.His debut as actor was the film Akanishi Kakita and cast in the Kenji Mizoguchi's film Osaka Elegy ....
  
   as Kataoka
• Akitake Kôno as Ise
• Yoshio Kosugi as Suruga
• Hanshiro Iwai as Yoshitsune (Minamoto no Yoshitsune
  Minamoto no Yoshitsune
  was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...
  
  )
• Dekao Yoko as Hidachibo
• Yasuo Hisamatsu as Kajiwara's messenger
• Shôji Kiyokawa as Togashi's messenger

External links

• The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail at Allmovie
• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail at the Japanese Movie Database
  Japanese Movie Database
  The , commonly referred to as JMDB, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database, but lists only those films originally released in Japan. The site was started in 1997, and contains movies from Meiji...