Sanjuro
椿三十郎
“You cut well, but the best sword stays in its sheath!”
Synopsis
In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Part of the Sanjuro Collection
Stream the entire interconnected saga and experience every installment in chronological storyline order.
Trailers, Teasers & Extra Featurettes
Official promotional previews, behind-the-scenes footage, and exclusive clips.
Sanjuro (1962) Original Trailer [4K]
Type: Trailer • Published 2023-06-30
Top Cast
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Toshirō Mifune
Sanjûrô Tsubaki / The ronin
Tatsuya Nakadai
Hanbei Muroto
Keiju Kobayashi
The Spy
Yūzō Kayama
Iori Izaka
Reiko Dan
Chidori, Mutsuta's daughter
Takashi Shimura
Kurofuji
Kamatari Fujiwara
Takebayashi
Takako Irie
Mutsuta's wife
Masao Shimizu
Kikui
Yūnosuke Itō
Mutsuta, the Chamberlain
Akira Kubo
Samurai
Hiroshi Tachikawa
Samurai
Yoshio Tsuchiya
Samurai
Kunie Tanaka
Samurai
Tatsuyoshi Ehara
Samurai
Akihiko Hirata
Samurai
Toranosuke Ogawa
Sachio Sakai
Samurai
Release History & Theatrical Window
Locarno Film Festival
Festival / Special Debut
May 7, 1963
Wide Cinema Exhibition
January 1, 2000
Physical Home Media
Key Information & Fast Facts
- Director
- Akira Kurosawa
- Screenplay & Story
- Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni
- Original Score
- Masaru Satō
- Original Title
- 椿三十郎
- Country of Origin
- Japan
- Spoken Languages
- Japanese
- Runtime
- 1h 36m
- Production Studios
- TOHO
Creative Leadership & Key Crew
Akira Kurosawa
Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shūgorō Yamamoto
Masaru Satō
Fukuzo Koizumi, Takao Saitō
Akira Kurosawa
Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ryuzo Kikushima
Department Leadership Roster
Akira Kurosawa
Director
Ryuzo Kikushima
Screenplay
Fukuzo Koizumi
Director of Photography
Takao Saitō
Director of Photography
Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay
Masaru Satō
Original Music Composer
Akira Kurosawa
Editor
Hideo Oguni
Screenplay
Yoshirō Muraki
Production Design
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Producer
Ryuzo Kikushima
Producer
Age Classification & Content Advisories
Official viewer rating standards and content warnings across international classification boards.
NR: Not Rated — Evaluated outside standard classification boards.
International Certification Matrix
Parental Guidance — Recommended for mature viewers.
Tous publics — Universal audience.
Not Rated — Evaluated outside standard classification boards.
Production Stills & Gallery
Official cinematic photography and background stills for Sanjuro.
Featured In Curated Collections
Editorial lists, community rankings, and cinematic collections featuring Sanjuro.
Old Movies
Letterboxd's Top 500 Films
Letterboxd's Top 500 Films. Ranks narrative feature films by average member rating (minimum 25,000 ratings). Excludes documentaries, shorts, and TV series. Letterboxd 官方 Top 500 电影榜单： 根据用户平均评分排名的剧情长片（最低2.5万评价门槛）。已排除纪录片、短片及剧集。 *(Updated via Automated ETL Pipeline: 2026-10-19 07:35:07 UTC+8)*
Movie Collection
Limelight Not Seen
***Retro***
Criterion Collection
The Complete Criterion Collection. The Criterion Collection is a video distribution company that sells 'important classic and contemporary films' in editions that offer the highest technical quality. This list contains only the featured films released on DVD, BluRay and 4K Criterion releases — no supplements are included. Organized by spine number with the newest releases first. CC标准收藏完整收录版： 收录标准收藏（Criterion Collection）发行的重要经典及当代电影。仅包含正片（涵盖 DVD、蓝光及 4K 版本），已排除花絮补充内容。按 CC 发行编号倒序排列（最新发行在前）。 *注：榜单源数据中包含部分剧集/迷你剧，由于本片单只收录纯电影，故不再收录以下非电影条目：* • [#214] Mangrove (2020) • [#215] Lovers Rock (2020) • [#216] Red, White and Blue (2020) • [#217] Alex Wheatle (2020) • [#486] Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (1972) • [#647] Dekalog (1989) • [#944] World on a Wire (1973) • [#1187] Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) • [#1338] Fanny and Alexander (1984) • [#1341] Tanner '88 (1988) • [#1371] Scenes from a Marriage (1973) *注：以下影片因 TMDB 尚未收录，暂不在此片单中展示：* • [#531] First (2012) • [#1699] Ulysse (1983) *(Updated via Automated ETL Pipeline: 2026-10-11 07:39:08 UTC+8)*
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Frequently Asked Questions About Sanjuro
Quick factual answers about cast, synopsis, director, box office, and release information.
What is Sanjuro about?
In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Who directed Sanjuro?
Sanjuro was directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Who stars in Sanjuro?
The principal cast of Sanjuro includes Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yūzō Kayama, Reiko Dan.
When was Sanjuro released and how long is it?
Sanjuro was released in 1962 with a total runtime of 1h 36m.
Who composed the musical score for Sanjuro?
The original motion picture soundtrack for Sanjuro was composed by Masaru Satō.
Is Sanjuro based on a book or true story?
Sanjuro is adapted from the following source material: Novel: "Shūgorō Yamamoto".
What is the age rating and content advisory for Sanjuro?
Sanjuro holds official age classifications: AU: PG (Parental Guidance — Recommended for mature viewers.); FR: U (Tous publics — Universal audience.); US: NR (Not Rated — Evaluated outside standard classification boards.).