Writer: Shinobu Hashimoto

Shinobu Hashimoto co-wrote Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress, which makes him the writer most responsible for the shape of Kurosawa’s best decade. He began as a tuberculosis patient reading screenwriting manuals in a sanatorium.

Kurosawa’s method was to lock several writers in an inn and have them write the same scenes independently, then compare. Hashimoto has described the process at length, including the eight weeks spent on Seven Samurai before a page of the actual script existed.

He also wrote Harakiri and Samurai Rebellion for Masaki Kobayashi, two of the most formally severe samurai films made.