The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945) Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi (original title)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa
Anonymous (plays)
(more)

Release Date:

28 February 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A Japanese general and his men disguise themselves as monks in order to pass an enemy border patrol.

Plot Keywords:

Kabuki | Japan | 1180s | 12th Century | Royalty

Cast

Denjirô Ôkôchi	...	Benkei
Susumu Fujita	...	Togashi
Ken'ichi Enomoto	...	Porter
Masayuki Mori	...	Kamei
Takashi Shimura	...	Kataoka
Akitake Kôno	...	Ise
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Suruga
Hanshirô Iwai	...	Yoshitsune (as Shubo Nishina)
Dekao Yokoo	...	Hidachibo
Yasuo Hisamatsu	...	Kajiwara's Messenger
Sôji Kiyokawa	...	Togashi's Messenger

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anonymous		plays "Kanjincho" and "Ataka"
Akira Kurosawa
Gohei Namiki		play "Kanjincho"

Produced by
Motohiko Itô	....	producer

Original Music by
Tadashi Hattori

Cinematography by
Takeo Itô

Production Design by
Kazuo Kubo

Production Management
Jin Usami	....	unit production manager

Sound Department
Keiji Hasebe	....	sound
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Iwaharu Hiraoka	....	lighting technician
Koichi Shikida	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Toshio Gotô	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Hachiko Toi	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1945) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Brandon Films (1960) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Eclipse edition)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Sandrews (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Toho Video (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Toho Video (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Toho Video (2009) (Japan) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Production had to be halted briefly during production of the film as Japan surrendered, bringing an end to the hostilities of World War II. Akira Kurosawa recollected breaking during production to listen to the address by Emperor Hirohito on August 15th, 1945.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences (2006) (V)

beautiful and funny.

If you like beautiful Japanese landscapes, the culture of ancient japan and damn funny faces, watch that movie.

This movie belongs to my all time favorites. Made me feel like a time travel to ancient japan. The actors are extraordinary, you believe them when they talk and you can laugh about them enough. A porter which plays the role of the clown in the movie has tragic moments too, he wants to help the samurais out, but they don't take him serious. Every scene is brilliantly acted and deserves more views than once. I watched it over and over again. Maybe because it was my first Akira Kurosawa movie.

Thank you.