
Akira Kurosawa (23 March 1910-6 September 1998) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and producer who directed 30 films during his 57-year-long career. Born in Shinagawa, Tokyo in 1910 to a father from a samurai family and a mother from a merchant family, he was involved in leftist circles as a youth and was attracted to the graphic arts, exhibiting his paintings and working for the left-wing Proletarian Artists' League. From 1935 to 1941, he trained as a director, employing socialist realism in his films. During World War II, he reluctantly produced propaganda films for the fascist government, glorifying test pilots and female factory workers. After the war, Kurosawa was inspired by the democratic ideals of the Allied occupation of Japan and produced more films about individual self-respect, starting with the 1946 film No Regrets for Our Youth. He and actor Toshiro Mifune became close collaborators over the next several decades, making around one film per year during the 1950s and 1960s. After monster movies came to dominate the Japanese film industry after 1968, Kurosawa's career declined, and he attempted suicide in 1971. After recovering, he attempted to restart his career, and the 1980s saw a resurgence of his popularity, although mostly outside of Japan. In 1990, he accepted an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He died in 1998 at the age of 88, and he was named "Asian of the Century" by AsianWeek magazine and CNN.