Yojimbo

Yojimbo Film Poster Country Directed by Akira Kurosawa Release Date 1961 Language Japanese Studio Toho Distributor Toho Company Main Cast Character Actor "Kuwabatake Sanjuro", the ronin Toshirô Mifune Unosuke Tatsuya Nakadai

Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese samurai movie starring Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai, directed by Akira Kurosawa. It notably features only one gun, which plays an important role in the hands of Nakadai.

The film's story has inspired several Western-produced remakes including A Fistful of Dollars, Quelli che contano, Django, Last Man Standing, Lucky Number Slevin and, Sukiyaki Western Django. Though Kurosawa sued Leone (director of A Fistful of Dollars) for plagiarism (Kurosawa won and was a producer of the Japanese release), Yojimbo itself is unofficially based on Dashiell Hammett's noir novel "Red Harvest."

The following weapons were used in the film Yojimbo:

Smith & Wesson Model 2

Unosuke the gunfighter (Tatsuya Nakadai) carries a Smith & Wesson Model 2 under his clothes and uses it in what may be the most memorable sword-vs-gun fight ever seen. (This inspired a similar moment at the end of Walter Hill's film The Warriors, which featured a knife vs. a gun.) "Kuwabatake Sanjuro" the ronin (Toshirô Mifune) also holds (not fires) this gun at one moment. An anachronistic weapon as it wasn't introduced until 1861, a year after the film's timeframe.

Smith & Wesson Model 2 .32 Short

Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai) holds his Model 2 on our hero.

Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai) uses his Model 2 to dispatch the opposing gang boss.

Cropped screen capture showing a better profile of the Model 2.

An injured Unosuke fires his Model 2 into the air.

"Kuwabatake Sanjuro" the ronin (Toshirô Mifune) gives the Model 2 to a mortally wounded Unosuke.