Mifune Sensei and his famous son [Archive]

O'Neill

9th December 2002, 20:55

I am wondering if Mifune sensei taught his son judo/jujutsu skills?
He was able to learn alot from Sugino sensei of the katori shinto ryu and he picked things up rather quickly in kenjutsu. I believe that he performed some nage waza in a film with Charles Bronson too.

MarkF

10th December 2002, 14:54

Erin,
If you do mean Toshiro Mifune, there is no relation. Toshiro did some judo in the film Red Sun, I think it was, Bronson "thrown" by Toshiro with tomoenage, and one or two others. On both sides, stunt doubles were used.

Toshiro Mifune also starred in the remake of Sugata Sanshiro (Judo Saga), playing Jigoro Kano, in 1965. The names were changed so Kano was called Yano. The original was made in 1943 or so, and was heavily censored. Both were directed by Akira Kurosawa. The original is available on tape, BTW, though I haven't been able to find the 1965 version, but did see it in J-town, Los Angeles, about that time. I've also heard there was another remake in the 1950s, but I haven't been able to find it.

Check Tower Records.com for the original (terrible sound, but it was Kurosawa's first film). It is in Japanese with English subtitles.

Mark

BTW: The movie, all of them, are based on the novel Sugata Sanshiro, which is based on the life of Shira Saigo, one of the "Four Heavenly Lords" of the famous Judo Vs. Jujutsu tournament held at the Tokyo Police Department dojo in the 1880s. While there is no English translation, if you do a search, you can find some articles about the novel. The author's father was one of those judoka in the shiai (shi-ni-ai).