Expanding on the themes of our exhibition Windowology: New Architectural Views from Japan, Japan House London is delighted to launch a series of free screenings offering different perspectives on the monumental figure of actor Mifune Toshirō (1920–1997).

Perhaps one Japan’s most iconic actors, Mifune collaborated with some of Japan’s greatest film directors such as Naruse Mikio and Mizoguchi Kenji. He achieved world-wide fame due to the longstanding artistic partnership with multi-award-winning filmmaker Kurosawa Akira that resulted in a total of 16 films, some of which are considered the greatest masterpieces of cinema.

A versatile and cutting-edge actor, Mifune managed to bring a new twist to jidaigeki (period film) characters: he embraced classical hero roles that were seen as cinematic variations on tachiyaku, or the idealization of a strong and reliable masculinity, and he revolutionized them with his display of raw emotion and outstanding facial expressions.

To shed light on this iconic figure of Japanese cinema, from April to August 2022 Japan House London is showing on the second Sunday of each month a selection of the most acclaimed films celebrating the collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune, including Rashōmon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, andYōjimbō.

Each film in this series will be screened a second time on a selected evening.

Season Programme

This page will be updated with information on individual events as they become available to book.

10 & 27April 2022: Rashōmon

8 & 14 May 2022: Seven Samurai

12 & 29 June 2022: Throne of Blood

10 & 25 July 2022: The Hidden Fortress

14 & 17 August 2022: Yōjinbō

The screenings are in Japanese with English subtitles. Information on age ratings is displayed on each individual event page.