LOS ANGELES, United States (Reuters) — Legendary Japanese movie star Toshiro Mifune was posthumously honored on Monday (November 14) with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
Mifune, who received the 2,594th star on Hollywood Boulevard, appeared in more than 150 films during the golden age of Japanese cinema and worked with the top directors of the time including Akira Kurosawa for whom he starred in 16 movies.
Mifune’s grandson, Rikiya Mifune, who received the star on his grandfather’s behalf, said he was happy that Mifune’s films were still appreciated today.
“Next year it will be 20 years since Mifune passed away and it’s great to know that his accomplishments are still acknowledged and appreciated. His old films are being digitally restored as well as remade and we are very glad that there’s a lot of excitement about this event,” he said.
“My grandfather passed away when I was nine years old so the memories I have of him are mainly as a grandfather figure but I remember him as a gentleman at home. He would talk in gruff and manly manner and always have perfect posture like a true samurai, even at home,” he added.
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Steven Okazaki, who directed “Mifune: The Last Samurai,” said Mifune broke new ground for Asian actors in Hollywood.
“In the 1950s and 60s there was no one like Mifune. I mean on American television there was ‘Hop Sing’ on Bonanza and very little else and Asians were either not visible or in sort of demeaning small roles,” said Okazaki.
Mifune was born April 1, 1920, in Chintao, China, to Japanese parents, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame stars.
Mifune starred in Kurosawa’s 1954 Samurai epic “Seven Samurai,” a film regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.
Mifune died on Dec. 24, 1997, at the age of 77.
