dual personalities

Tag: Toshiro Mifune

August 24, 2022

The world is vast and boundless. Be steadfast.

by chuckofish

Daughter #1 usually posts on Wednesdays, but her internet was out last night so she could not write her post about the Missouri State Fair as she had planned. C’est la vie.

I was not prepared to write a post on short notice so I will just note that I DVR’d, as planned, all the samurai movies which TCM ran on Toshiro Mifune day last week. Last night I watched Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune.

It won the Academy Award for outstanding foreign film that year and they got that right.

Personally, I really love Toshiro Mifune, and I would even go so far as to say he is in the Top Five of my all-time favorite actors. (Who are the other four you ask? That is a post for another day.)

And here’s a samurai poem by Robert Pinsky.

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April 1, 2015

“The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997).

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You might recall that I have blogged about him before. But some things bear repeating.

As you know, I have been watching Shogun (1980) in 4-part increments. Part Four is in the mail! Toshiro Mifune definitely steals the show.

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Of Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurosawa said, “I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him.”

Well, I guess so.

Why is there not a National Holiday in Japan honoring him? Today should be Toshiro Mifune Day. Well, it is my personal Toshiro Mifune Day. Sake, anyone?

P.S. My brother had a Datsun back in the day that he named Toshiro.

*The Sword of Doom (1966)

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April 2, 2013

Happy belated birthday,Toshiro Mifune!

by chuckofish

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Yesterday was the birthday of the late great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997) who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo.

Who doesn’t love him as a samurai warrior? He is indeed the Best.

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But I like him as well in the 1949 Japanese police procedural film noir classic, Stray Dog. He is so young and handsome!

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He also stole the show as Toranaga in the 1980 miniseries Shogun.

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So when you are trying to think of something to watch this week, think of old Toshiro Mifune.

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