Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

Original title: Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi
  • 1945
  • Not Rated
  • 59m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
4.2K
YOUR RATING
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
AdventureDramaThriller

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

  • Director
    • Akira Kurosawa
  • Writers
    • Nobumitsu Kanze
    • Akira Kurosawa
    • Gohei Namiki
  • Stars
    • Denjirô Ôkôchi
    • Susumu Fujita
    • Ken'ichi Enomoto
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    4.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Nobumitsu Kanze
      • Akira Kurosawa
      • Gohei Namiki
    • Stars
      • Denjirô Ôkôchi
      • Susumu Fujita
      • Ken'ichi Enomoto
    • 37User reviews
    • 36Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos49

    Hanshirô Iwai and Denjirô Ôkôchi in The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    Ken'ichi Enomoto and Denjirô Ôkôchi in The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    Susumu Fujita in The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    Susumu Fujita in The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Denjirô Ôkôchi
    Denjirô Ôkôchi
    • Benkei
    Susumu Fujita
    • Saemon Togashi
    Ken'ichi Enomoto
    Ken'ichi Enomoto
    • Porter
    Masayuki Mori
    Masayuki Mori
    • Kamei
    Takashi Shimura
    Takashi Shimura
    • Kataoka
    Akitake Kôno
    Akitake Kôno
    • Ise
    Yoshio Kosugi
    • Suruga
    Hanshirô Iwai
    • Yoshitsune
    • (as Shubo Nishina)
    Dekao Yokoo
    • Hidachibo
    Yasuo Hisamatsu
    • Kajiwara's Messenger
    Sôji Kiyokawa
    Sôji Kiyokawa
    • Togashi's Messenger
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Nobumitsu Kanze
      • Akira Kurosawa
      • Gohei Namiki
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
    6.0
    Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
    Sanshiro Sugata
    6.7
    Sanshiro Sugata
    No Regrets for Our Youth
    7.1
    No Regrets for Our Youth
    One Wonderful Sunday
    7.2
    One Wonderful Sunday
    The Most Beautiful
    5.7
    The Most Beautiful
    The Quiet Duel
    7.4
    The Quiet Duel
    Scandal
    7.2
    Scandal
    Drunken Angel
    7.6
    Drunken Angel
    The Lower Depths
    7.3
    The Lower Depths
    I Live in Fear
    7.3
    I Live in Fear
    The Idiot
    7.2
    The Idiot
    Those Who Make Tomorrow
    6.5
    Those Who Make Tomorrow

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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.
    • Connections
      Featured in Great Performances: Kurosawa (2000)

    User reviews37

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    The man who tread on the tigers' tails
    This is a very intelligent movie, telling the story of two men who ride the tiger's tail out of loyalty and grace. The courage of one of them is explicitly portrayed in the film. It is the samurai Benkei who cleverly defends his lord at a very high personal risk. Benkei improvises an eloquent speech reading out of a blank scroll the prospectus for the temple when required to do so by the commander of the military outpost seeking to capture his master. Benkei uses logic to convince his comrades that it is not a good idea to fight the soldiers of the barrier. The samurai may kill all the soldiers this time but that will result in more soldiers and more persecution later on. Benkei uses a clever trick, to flog his master who is posing as a porter when the second-in-command suspects that the porter is the master they are trying to capture. Since a servant would never beat his master, the porter cannot be the master, reasons the top commander.

    But more impressive than Benkei is the street-wise guy, the real porter played by Kenichi Enomoto, who joins the party of samurai in the forest. He treads on two tigers' tails. The first tiger is represented by the party of samurai. He is rejected by them, he is called a nobody, he is treated harshly, he is even threatened with death. He disappears at times but he returns to help the samurai who walk in the forest pretending to be itinerant priests. He collects information valuable to them and shares that information. And the second tiger is the military outpost who will surely kill him if they discover that the master is among the party of fake itinerant priests.

    While Benkei does his heroic deeds in a ceremonial manner framed by rituals and high tension, the loquacious porter does his heroic deeds in a discreet, even awkward manner, without fanfare or rituals. His heroism is so discreet that even seasoned Kurosawa critics missed the point of the movie: natural, humble heroism offered not out of loyalty, but out of grace.

    (The master of the party of samurai is such an obscure figure that out of respect to Kurosawa I have not even mentioned his name in my review)
    helpful•4
    2
    • carlos-e-mora
    • Apr 20, 2011

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 28, 1960 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Die Männer, die auf des Tigers Schwanz traten
    • Filming locations
      • Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Toho Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      59 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945) officially released in Canada in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.