Yesterday, Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s most iconic samurai actor, was awarded a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for his outstanding contributions in the motion picture industry.

Boasting of around 180 films and 16 awards under his name, Mifune rose to fame for his exceptional portrayals of authoritative Japanese landlords and swordsmen.  

In 1961, he grabbed the Best Actor award for Akira Kurosawa’s Yojinbo at the prestigious Venice Film Festival. Four years after, he won the same award for another of Kurosawa’s classics, Akahige (Red Beard).

But his more notable performance was for Kurosawa’s Rashomon, which earned an Honorary Academy Award in 1952. For this movie, Mifune played the role of Tajomaru, a bandit who is currently on trial for his crimes.

Renowned director, Akira Kurosawan, left, and Toshiro Mifune (right) on the set of Akahige. Photo from Rafu Shimpo. 

Mifune was also nominated for the Best Foreign Actor award for the film Seven Samurai, at the 1956 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Here, he portrayed the seventh samurai, Kikuchiyo.

He has also participated in a number of foreign productions, including Red Sun, a 1972 film about a stolen Japanese sword. Another notable film was Steven Spielberg’s 1941, a film set in the days of the Pearl Harbor attack.

This coming December 2, a documentary on his life, created by Academy Award-winning director, Steven Okazaki, will be released. Entitled Mifune: The Last Samurai, the film explores, not only Toshiro’s life in front of the camera, but also beyond the movie set. The film contains exclusive interviews, including that of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.

The official trailer of Mifune: The Last Samurai.

The said film was nominated for the Best Documentary on Cinema award at the Venice Film Festival in 2015.

Banner image from Pinterest.