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椿三十郎 Sanjuro
Original Japanese poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Produced by	Ryuzo Kikushima Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by	Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa
Starring	Toshirō Mifune Tatsuya Nakadai Keiju Kobayashi Yuzo Kayama
Music by	Masaru Satô
Distributed by	Toho Company Ltd.
Release date(s)	January 1, 1962 May 7, 1963
Running time	96 min.
Language	Japanese
Preceded by	Yojimbo
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Sanjuro is the English title for Tsubaki Sanjūrō (椿三十郎, Tsubaki Sanjūrō^?), a 1962 black and white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's previous film Yojimbo, with Mifune reprising his role as a wandering ronin who goes by the pseudonym 'Sanjuro'. The film combines action and humour, and is lighter in tone than its predecessor.

Based on Shugoro Yamamoto's novel Peaceful Days, the film tells the story of a group of loyal but hapless young samurai who are trying to rescue their master, the Chamberlain, from the clutches of a corrupt rival. Their initial impulsive rescue attempts fail, and they seem to be doomed until the scruffy but brilliant swordfighter Sanjuro offers his help. Mifune's Sanjuro is an anti-hero — a shabby, cynical character, who perplexes the samurai to whose aid he comes, challenging their naive preconceptions about their calling. Setting up base next door to the traitors they manage to get Sanjuro to infiltrate the enemy camp as one of their own, and send their army off in the opposite direction. After they rescue the master, Sanjuro disappears, and in the film's infamous ending, the young samurai track him down to a spot on the road. There he is facing off against the traitor's top samurai who after being betrayed by Sanjuro, demands a duel to protect his honor. After an agonizingly long build up, Sanjuro kills the samurai with one blow, releasing a torrent of blood. Disgusted with what he has become, he walks off into the distance with his distinctive farewell, "See ya later."

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• Originally Sanjuro was to be a straight adaptation of the novel Peaceful Days but after the success of Yojimbo the studio decided to resurrect Toshiro Mifune's legendary character, and Kurosawa reimagined the script accordingly.
• The scene where a single blossom falls into a rushing stream raised severe problems on how to pull it off. Originally the crew considered using piano wire but were afraid the light glinting on it would show up on film. A female costume designer suggested unraveling a womans stocking and using the nylon due to its strength and invisibility. When it worked, Kurosawa said the happiness he felt at that moment was "indescribable".
• For the infamous "blood explosion" in the film's ending, the hose they attached to the actor Tatsuya Nakadai was so strong that it nearly lifted him off the ground and it took all his might to finish the scene.

• Mangaka Goseki Kojima made an adaptation of the film for manga in 1998.

• Sanjuro at the Internet Movie Database
• Criterion Collection essay by Michael Sragow
• 椿三十郎 (Tsubaki Sanjūrō) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.