Yōjimbō

Introduction

“Yōjimbō” is a jidaigeki film which represents Japan and made a significant influence on international films. The director of the film is Kurosawa Akira, who won various film awards all over the world. He is also the first film director to have received the People’s Honor Award of Japan. The film “Yōjimbō” became internationally known with the leading actor, Toshirō Mifune winning Best Actor in the Venice International Film Festival. 

The scenario of Yōjimbō is based on an overseas novel, and it consists of scenes with special effects which were rather rare back in the days. The scenario and SFX received high praise overseas and led to the film’s remake. Now, let’s look into what kind of a film Yōjimbō is. 

Summary of Yōjimbō

Yōjimbō is a Japanese jidaigeki film released in 1961, directed by Kurosawa Akira. The leading actor is the world-famous Japanese actor, Toshirō Mifune. The film centers upon his character, Kuwabatake Sanjūrō as he fights the gangs in a post town set in the Edo Period. 

For the cast of the enemy, Kurosawa Akira selected the representative actor of Japan, Nakadai Tatsuya, who he directly negotiated with for him to play the role. As for the other characters, Tōno Eijirō plays the role of Gonji, the tavern owner, and Yamada Isuzu plays Orin, the wife of the town boss Seibei. 

The film Yōjimbō begins with a masterless ronin samurai named Kuwabatake Sanjūrō arriving at Umamenoyado, a thriving post town in the Edo Period. The town turns out to be the setting of a dispute between the clan of Seibei who runs illegal gambling houses, and the clan of his right-hand man Ushitora. 

Kuwabatake Sanjūrō hears of the town’s situation from Gonji, the tavern owner and instead of paying for the drinks he tells him that he will bring peace to the town by ending the gang war. Sanjūrō proves his ability as a Yōjimbō or bodyguard by defeating Ushitora’s men and he is hired by Seibei. From this the story begins to unfold. 

Just when Sanjūrō is hired as a Yōjimbō, Unosuke returns to town. Unosuke is a member of Ushitora’s clan, famous for his sharpness. While out of town, he had obtained a pistol and with this pistol and his sharpness he proceeds with things in ways that are advantageous to Ushitora’s clan. 

This is how the battle between Kuwabatake Sanjūrō and Unosuke begins. The title, “Yōjimbō” means a samurai who is hired as a bodyguard; therefore, the title comes from the fact that Kuwabatake Sanjūrō, played by Toshirō Mifune, is hired by Seibei’s clan and becomes their yōjimbō.

“Yōjimbō” was inexplicably an enormous hit and box office success as an entertainment movie in Japan. Soon after its release, Toshirō Mifune won Best Actor in the 22nd Venice International Film Festival for his performance. The film was internationally acclaimed and made a big impact on the rest of the world. 

The film is highly acclaimed for its slain sound effects and violent depictions which defied conventional jidaigeki films. In 1964, Italian film director Sergio Leone made an unofficial remake of the film as a spaghetti western with the title, “A Fistful of Dollars”. From this we can see that the film had intrigued overseas filmmakers to do a remake. 

The scenario of having gangs fight against each other was inspired by the novel, “Red Harvest” written by Dashiell Hammett. Furthermore, many names of animals appear within the film, and this is due to the fact that the ideas for the characters were derived from actual animals. Hence the reason why the characters display the behavior and personality of various animals according to the animal names they are given.

With “Yōjimbō” gaining popularity, Kurosawa Akira filmed the sequel “Tsubaki Sanjūrō” in 1962. “Yōjimbō” had become popular and achieved its status as a new type of jidaigeki film. 

Plot of Yojimbo

“Yōjimbō” begins with Kuwabatake Sanjūrō played by Toshirō Mifune arriving at a town called Umamenoyado. He spots a dog with a human wrist in its mouth. Sanjūrō wanders inside a tavern and hears of the situation of the town from Gonji played by Tōno Eijirō. 

In Umamenoyado, Seibei is the boss of gambling houses and his clan had divided due to a succession dispute with Ushitora’s clan. They repeatedly fought a war over this dispute causing destruction in town. Sanjūrō says he will bring peace to the town in exchange for the drinks and leaves the tavern.

He then begins to promote himself to Seibei’s clan and Ushitora’s clan to make him their yōjimbō. At first, Sanjūrō did not show his true skills but when he engages in a battle with the members of the Ushitora clan, he immediately slays three men.

Seibei, who is impressed with Sanjūrō’s strengths and abilities, decides to hire him as a yōjimbō for 50 ryo. Sanjūrō accepts the reward and becomes Seibei’s yōjimbō. At a celebration to welcome the newly hired man, Seibei asks his name in which case Sanjurō looks out the window, spots a mulberry field (kuwabatake) and refers to himself as “Kuwabatake” Sanjūrō.

Sanjūrō also makes a remark that his name is “Kuwabatake Sanjūro, well actually nearly Yonjūrō”, meaning he might be closer to the 40’s instead of 30’s. From this we can see that his name Sanjūrō may be referring to his age but we never get to find out. Little did anyone know that Sanjūrō, although hired as Seibei’s yōjimbō was actually scheming to destroy the two clans by having them clash against each other. 

【Development】Plot of Yōjimbō

Although Sanjūrō was hired as yōjimbō, he secretly finds out that Seibei and his wife Orin are planning to kill him after defeating Ushitora and so Sanjūrō returns the reward he received and resigns. Later on, with a notice of the arrival of a government official called, “Hasshūmawari” comes a temporary truce in war. 

However, since another government official was murdered in a neighboring town, the Hasshūmawari immediately leaves Umamenoyado. On top of that, Unosuke the brother of Ushitora played by Nakadai Tatsuya returns to town and begins to figure out how to defeat the enemy. With Unosuke’s arrival, Sanjūrō’s plan of ending the dispute by defeating both clans is thrown off. 

It is soon discovered that the murder of the government official was the act of the Ushitora clan. Sanjūrō captures the assassins who were responsible and hands them over to Seibei, but tells Ushitora that they were caught by Seibei’s men. Unosuke kills the assassins and kidnaps Seibei’s son.

Since his son was kidnapped, Seibei kidnapped Onui, the mistress of Tokuemon, who was a brewer and patron of the Ushitora clan. The two clans plan an exchange of the two prisoners they held captive. 

Eventually, Yōichirō and Onui are exchanged without causing any deaths. Yōichirō returns to his family and Onui is taken to a house supervised by the Ushitora clan. 

【Twist】Plot of Yōjimbō

Following the exchange of the captives, Sanjūrō finds out that Onui is actually the wife of a farmer named Kohei and that she had been made the mistress of Tokuemon against her will. He attacks the house in which Onui is imprisoned and rescues her. Sanjūrō then tells Onui to reunite with her husband Kohei and escape from town.

Ushitora’s clan, who naturally thought that Seibei’s clan had something to do with the escape of Onui decides to burn down the silk warehouse of Tazaemon, a silk merchant and patron of Seibei’s clan. As revenge, Seibei attacks Tokuemon’s brewery. The dispute intensifies as a result and the town becomes an appalling sight with dead bodies all over the place. 

Amidst all this, Kohei returns to town to give Sanjūrō a letter of appreciation for saving his wife. Meanwhile, Gonji had been expressing his anger as he believed the intensification of the dispute was caused by Sanjūrō. His feelings of anger subsides and is replaced by gratitude when he witnesses Kohei hand the letter to Sanjūrō and realizes that Sanjūrō is actually trying to save the town. 

However, this letter of Kohei’s somehow ends up in the hands of Unosuke. Unosuke finds out the truth behind the intensified dispute and captures Sanjūrō to torture him into telling where Onui is. 

Sanjūrō will not confess Onui’s whereabouts and is badly beaten by Ushitora’s clan. He tolerates the torture and somehow manages to escape. 

【Conclusion】Plot of Yōjimbō

After making a narrow escape, Sanjūrō is saved by Gonji. Ushitora’s clan had visited Gonji to ask the whereabouts of Sanjūrō, but Gonji lies to them. Sanjūrō is taken to a small temple in the outskirts of town to recover. Ushitora’s clan are under the idea that Sanjūrō is being hidden by Seibei’s clan. 

Ushitora’s clan sets the house of Seibei’s clan on fire, and kills the men including Seibei who were driven out from their homes by the smoke. This brings an end to the Seibei clan. However, Ushitora’s clan is not finished because they were unable to find Sanjūrō who was the purpose for this attack. They eventually find out that Gonji is hiding him and they capture Gonji. 

Sanjūrō discovers from a coffin maker leaving town that Gonji had been captured and returns to town to rescue him. Sanjūrō is equipped with a knife for self protection that Gonji had given him, as well as a katana from the coffin maker and heads to the Ushitora clan’s house. 

The last battle begins with Sanjūrō confronting Ushitora’s clan led by Unosuke. Unosuke had his Smith & Wesson pistol at the ready. Sanjūrō throws his knife to block Unosuke’s attack. 

Sanjūrō completely slays the Ushitora clan. He defeats the members of the clan all except for one farmer boy but he overlooks his escape. Unosuke makes a request to Sanjūrō if he could hold his pistol one last time as it is out of bullets.

However, there was actually a last bullet left inside the pistol. Unosuke tries to pull the trigger but dies before he is able to do so. This brings an end to the Ushitora clan and peace returns to town. Later on, Sanjūrō unties the knot from the captured Gonji, says his farewell and leaves the town which had finally become peaceful. 

The Cast of Yojimbo

Toshirō Mifune

Toshirō Mifune was born on April 1, 1920 in Seito, Shangdong, China. He stars as Kuwabatake Sanjūrō in “Yōjimbō”. Toshirō Mifune repeatedly appeared in Kurosawa Akira films, and the director had always given him high praise. 

Toshirō Mifune wins Best Actor in the Venice International Film Festival for his performance in “Yōjimbō”. Since he was previously nominated for Best Actor for his performance in “The Seven Samurai” and had received global recognition, he became known as “Mifune of the world”. Mifune also stars as Tsubaki Sanjūrō in the sequel “Tsubaki Sanjūro”. 

Tōno Eijirō

Tōno Eijirō was born on September 17, 1907. He is a representative Japanese actor famous for playing the first Mitō Kōmon. In “Yōjimbō”, he plays Gonji, the tavern owner. He is a regular in Kurosawa Akira films and is an excellent supporting actor. 

Gonji is an important character especially towards the end of the film. He is caught for hiding Sanjūrō, leading to the final battle between the clans. Tōno Eijirō is perfect as the old Gonji, and his character brought so much excitement to the climax scenes of the film.

Nakadai Tatsuya

Nakadai Tatsuya was born on December 13, 1932. He is an actor as well as the organizer of Mumeijuku. In this film, he portrays Unosuke of the Ushitora clan who is Kuwabatake Sanjūrō’s enemy. Unosuke is another important character who battles with Sanjūro in the end. 

Nakadai Tatsuya’s first appearance in a Kurosawa Film was in “The Seven Samurai”. He was told that he walked funny and it took more than half a day to film his part. Therefore, when he was offered a role in “Yōjimbō”, he had initially declined the offer. 

Nakadai was repeatedly asked to star in the film, but since he kept on declining, Kurosawa Akira had to persuade him in the end. He was also given a role in the sequel film, “Tsubaki Sanjūrō”.

Sazanka Kyū

Sazanka Kyū was born on April 1, 1914. He is an actor as well as a comedian. In the film, “Yōjimbō” he was given the role of Ushitora. With his angular face and saucer eyes, Sazanka excels in playing villains such as a loan shark and the boss of a yakuza gang. Similarly, he contributes to this film as an excellent villain; the boss of a clan involved in a dispute.

Yamada Isuzu

Yamada Isuzu, also known by her nickname “Bell san” was born on February 5, 1917. She is an actress who represents the Showa period. Yamada began with roles of maidens in jidaigeki and eventually became a great actress. In “Yōjimbō” she plays Seibei’s wife. 

Katō Daisuke

Katō Daisuke was born on February 18, 1911. He also appeared in “Rashōmon” and “The Seven Samurai”, both directed by Kurosawa Akira and he is a regular of Kurosawa films. Katō plays Inokichi, another enemy of Kuwabatake Sanjūrō in this film. 

Film Reviews of Yōjimbō

・Out of all Kurosawa films, “Yōjimbō” is especially well filmed. There are dramatic compositions in which two clans confront one another in an empty space with Sanjūrō standing in the foreground, providing the scene with depth. The atmosphere of the town itself already foreshadows the danger that lies within. 

・Toshirō Mifune is excellent as the rōnin and the casting is top notch. It is a cross between eastern Japanese and western cowboys, making the film an interesting watch. The film is a must-see for all film lovers. 

・Sanjūrō is a super samurai and is the whirlwind that leads the whole film. The gangs of town are extremely cruel and deserve no mercy. Quite a number of enemies are brutally killed until the end, but because their characters have an overexaggerated evilness about them, the audience is able to enjoy the slaying scenes without feeling disgusted. The film does not disappoint. 

・The film is a must-see for those who enjoy cowboy movies and action movies.  

・Various films are made on the theme of rōnins, and “Yōjimbō” is a film that almost defines their image. Toshirō Mifune’s swordskills is amazing and his character is likable for appearing unrefined but actually a strategic thinker underneath with a kind heart. The film is something of a dark comedy and period drama, an extremely enjoyable film to watch.   

・“Yōjimbō” has a setting reminiscent of typical western films where dust and leaves fly in the dry streets of town. The only difference is that Sanjūrō is not a cowboy. Director Kurosawa Akira had created a unique genre of film of his own. 

・“Yōjimbō” is one of the most cool and stylish films made in history so far. From the swordskills of the samurais to the gang wars, the desolated streets, and the cruel torture scene, every visual aspect of the film is excellent. 

In Summary of Yojimbo

“Yōjimbō” is the most influential film out of all Kurosawa Akira films. From Toshirō Mifune’s portrayal of Sanjūrō that won him Best Actor in the Venice International Film Festival, the film is truly enjoyable and one of a kind. 

If you would like to watch Kurosawa Akira’s most highly praised film, “Yōjimbō” online, please check “samurai vs ninja” which is a samurai video streaming service. You are bound to be entertained by Kurosawa’s scenario and Toshirō Mifune’s excellent swordfight scenes.