Mifune Toshiro: Both reel and real life hero.

Added: 12/21/2007

Mifune Toshiro was a very famous Japanese actor who has about one hundred and seventy films to his credit. Although a Japanese by nationality, Toshiro Mifune was born in Qingdao on the 1stof April 1920. He grew up in Dalian, a city in China. His father Tokuzo was a commercial photographer and owned his photography shop here after migrating from Japan. He spent his early youth working in his father’s shop.

He then joined the Imperial Japanese Air Force and took part in the Second World War. He was serving the Aerial Photography wing. He returned back to his country in 1946. In 1947 he joined the department of photography of Toho Productions as an assistant Cameraman. Here too, being a very religious man, he was not very comfortable working for a communist set up. The studio at that point of time was on a look out for some ‘new faces’ due to dearth of actors following a long strike. Mifune’s application and photo was forwarded by a friend of his without his knowledge. Out of some 4000 applicants some 48 candidates were selected and Mifune was one of them. He later was asked to give a screen test for Kajiro Yamamoto where he had to bring out his anger. His wartime experiences helped to bring out the feeling in him and managed to impress Yamamoto who recommended him to director Senkichi Taniguchi. The first feature film of Toshiro Mifune was ‘Shin Baka Jidai’.
Toshiro Mifune married Sachiko Yoshimine a fellow actress in the year 1950. Sachiko was eight years younger to him. There was a lot of opposition from Sachiko’s family and it took a lot of convincing before they actually married. They were blessed with two sons. In 1982 out of his relationship with actress Mika Kitagawa, a baby girl was born to them.
His close association with renowned film director Akira Kurosawa, his acting versatility, his personality and his knowledge of many languages made him the most popular actor of his times. He was very famous in the west.
In his acting career, he has more often played the roles of a samurai or a ronin. In films like ‘Seven Samurai’ and ‘Yojimbo’ he plays characters usually funny without being gentle and usually the hero attitude but with lot of practical knowledge, nobility and with a great sense of humor. While in ‘Yojimbo’, he has displayed terrific fighting skills. The ‘Sanjiuro’, ‘Samurai Trilogy’, ‘Seven Samurai’, ‘Rashomon’, ‘Animas Trujano’ and ‘Red Beard’ were few of the many acclaimed films he has acted. He even ventured English movies such as ‘Grand Prix’, ‘Red Sun’ and ‘Midway’.
During the production of the ‘Red Beard’ Mifune’s Production Company went into depths. Although this movie ran successfully in Europe and Japan it did not do much good to Mufune’s financial condition. At this stage he separated from his wife. His director and mentor Kurosawa being a very conservative person and moreover instrumental in convincing Sachiko Yoshimine’s family for their wedding was very upset about their separation and eventually resulted in his separation from Mufune. The situation worsened to the extent that they called each other names in public appearances.
In 1980 Mifune opened an acting school which also failed miserably due to mismanaged finances. The only good thing in those years is that his role of ‘Toranaga’ in the series of shogun which found him much acclaim.
Much later Mifune and Kurosawa reconciled but they never got as close as they were earlier. Mifune was in his last years taken care by his estranged wife Sachiko.

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