---
name: "Ryuzo Kikushima"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ryuzo-kikushima"
fi1m_id: "ryuzo-kikushima"
imdb_id: "nm0452878"
tmdb_id: 34373
wikidata_id: "Q11619626"
roles: ["Writer","Producer"]
born: "28 January 1914"
died: "18 March 1989"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 89
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T07:47:36.202321+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ryuzo Kikushima

## Identity

Ryuzo Kikushima

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ryuzo-kikushima
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ryuzo-kikushima
- **IMDb ID:** nm0452878
- **TMDB ID:** 34373
- **Wikidata ID:** Q11619626
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABz%C5%8D_Kikushima, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11619626, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452878/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/34373

Writer and producer. Born 28 January 1914 in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Died 18 March 1989.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer
- **Born:** 28 January 1914, Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
- **Died:** 18 March 1989
- **Active:** 1957–1963
- **Also known as:** Ryûzô Kikushima
- **Frequently works with:** [Akira Kurosawa](https://film.one/person/akira-kurosawa.md), [Toshirō Mifune](https://film.one/person/toshiro-mifune.md), [Hideo Oguni](https://film.one/person/hideo-oguni.md), [Isuzu Yamada](https://film.one/person/isuzu-yamada.md), [Tatsuya Nakadai](https://film.one/person/tatsuya-nakadai.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 89, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 88 (1), 1960s 89 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 89 to 81 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Thriller 2, Crime 1, History 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $811m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABz%C5%8D_Kikushima, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11619626, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452878/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/34373

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*High and Low*](https://film.one/film/high-and-low.md) (90), [*Yojimbo*](https://film.one/film/yojimbo.md) (88), [*Throne of Blood*](https://film.one/film/throne-of-blood.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ryūzō Kikushima was a Japanese screenwriter and film producer. He co-wrote the screenplay for Akira Kurosawa's *Yojimbo* (1961) and both wrote and produced *High and Low* (1963).

Kikushima produced several other Kurosawa films in the early 1960s and contributed screenplays to additional Kurosawa works including *Throne of Blood* (1957), *The Hidden Fortress* (1958) and *Sanjuro* (1962). He also wrote or co-wrote screenplays for films by other directors, such as Mikio Naruse's *When a Woman Ascends the Stairs* (1960), on which he served as producer, and *Tora! Tora! Tora!* (1970).

In 2013, Kikushima and his frequent screenwriting collaborators Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni received the Jean Renoir Award from the Writers Guild of America West.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *High and Low* (1963), Fi1m 90, Screenplay, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/high-and-low.md)
- *Yojimbo* (1961), Fi1m 88, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/yojimbo.md)
- *Throne of Blood* (1957), Fi1m 88, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/throne-of-blood.md)

## Complete filmography (96)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Highest 2 Lowest* (2025), Original Film Writer
- *黒の斜面* (2016), Original Story
- *The Last Princess* (2008), Original Story
- *Tsubaki Sanjuro* (2007), Writer
- *Inferno* (1999), Original Film Writer
- *Last Man Standing* (1996), Original Film Writer
- *My Phoenix* (1989), Screenplay
- *The Demon Comes in Spring* (1989), Screenplay
- *Princess from the Moon* (1987), Writer
- *The Greatest Man in the World* (1986), Screenplay
- *The Warrior and the Sorceress* (1984), Original Film Writer
- *Cliff of Death* (1982), Original Story
- *Willful Murder* (1981), Screenplay
- *Shag* (1978), Writer
- *Ame no meguri ai* (1977), Original Story, Screenplay
- *The Last Round* (1976), Original Film Writer
- *The Sorrow of Paris* (1976), Screenplay
- *Hashū Hankachō* (1974), series, Writer
- *Stray Dog* (1973), Original Story
- *Kogarashi Monjiro* (1972), series, Writer
- *Man on a False Flight* (1971), Original Story, Screenplay
- *Kaoyaku* (1971), Screenplay
- *Live Again Tomorrow* (1970), Original Story
- *Tora! Tora! Tora!* (1970), Screenplay
- *The Magoichi Saga* (1969), Screenplay
- *Gateway to Glory* (1969), Screenplay
- *Tsugaru zessho* (1969), Screenplay
- *Trigger-Happy* (1968), Writer
- *春日和* (1967), Screenplay, Original Story
- *Django* (1966), Original Film Writer
- *You Can If You Try* (1965), Adaptation
- *Hoodlum Soldier* (1965), Screenplay
- *Red Beard* (1965), Producer, Screenplay
- *A Fistful of Dollars* (1964), Original Story
- *The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers* (1964), Writer
- *Fumiko's Five Benefactors* (1964), Writer
- *She Came For Love* (1963), Screenplay
- *Zero Escape Visibility* (1963), Writer
- *Fifty-Fifty* (1963), Screenplay
- *Legacy of the 500,000* (1963), Screenplay
- *High and Low* (1963), Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/high-and-low.md)
- *Shin kitsune to tanuki* (1962), Screenplay
- *Yoru no keisha* (1962), Screenplay
- *Sanjuro* (1962), Screenplay, Producer
- *Shadow of a Flower* (1961), Screenplay
- *The Age of Lawless Moneymaking* (1961), Original Story, Adaptation
- *Yojimbo* (1961), Screenplay, Executive Producer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/yojimbo.md)
- *Chikuhō no kodomotachi* (1960), Producer, Screenplay
- *The Bad Sleep Well* (1960), Writer
- *12 Ounces to Glory* (1960), Adaptation, Original Story
- *Life of a Country Doctor* (1960), Screenplay, Adaptation
- *Ôana* (1960), Screenplay
- *White Cliffs* (1960), Writer
- *Afraid to Die* (1960), Writer
- *When a Woman Ascends the Stairs* (1960), Producer, Screenplay
- *Across the Darkness* (1959), Writer
- *The Three Treasures* (1959), Writer
- *Fox and Raccoon* (1959), Screenplay
- *The Story of Iron Arm Inao* (1959), Writer
- *The Hidden Fortress* (1958), Screenplay
- *The Days of Evil Women* (1958), Screenplay
- *The Undefeated Woman* (1958), Writer
- *The Gion Tempest* (1958), Screenplay
- *Fancy Talker* (1958), Screenplay
- *The Unbalanced Wheel* (1957), Screenplay
- *The Eleventh Hour* (1957), Novel
- *Last Days of the Samurai* (1957), Screenplay
- *Throne of Blood* (1957), Screenplay — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/throne-of-blood.md)
- *Wakanohana: The Story of the Devil of the Dohyō* (1956), Story
- *Dotanba* (1956), Director, Screenplay
- *The Storm* (1956), Writer
- *The Fighter in the Ring* (1956), Original Concept
- *Will-o'-the-Wisp* (1956), Writer
- *Gendai no yokubô* (1956), Screenplay
- *The Wicked Boy* (1956), Screenplay
- *The Underworld* (1956), Screenplay
- *Rikidozan: Man of Fury* (1955), Screenplay
- *The Samurai of Edo* (1955), Screenplay
- *Six Assassins* (1955), Writer
- *Till We Meet Again* (1955), Screenplay
- *No Time for Tears* (1955), Writer
- *The Immortal Pitcher* (1955), Screenplay
- *Vanished Enlisted Man* (1955), Screenplay
- *A Man Among Men* (1955), Story
- *Hirate Miki the Swordman* (1954), Screenplay
- *The Black Current* (1954), Screenplay
- *Kunisada Chūji* (1954), Writer
- *Hanran* (1954), Screenplay
- *Made in Japan* (1953), Screenplay
- *The End of the Night* (1953), Writer
- *Machi no kotengu* (1952), Adaptation
- *Tange Sazen* (1952), Screenplay
- *Daigaku no kotengu* (1952), Screenplay
- *Scandal* (1950), Screenplay
- *Stray Dog* (1949), Writer
- *A Fistful of Dollars Remake*, Original Film Writer

## Gallery

- ![1967年4月28日、映画『トラ・トラ・トラ!』の製作発表が東京プリンスホテルの2階のマグノリア・ルームで行われた。左から菊島隆三、小国英雄、青柳哲郎、黒澤明。](https://film.one/media/person/104777/gallery-6ac3b8b0d255.jpg) 1967年4月28日、映画『トラ・トラ・トラ!』の製作発表が東京プリンスホテルの2階のマグノリア・ルームで行われた。左から菊島隆三、小国英雄、青柳哲郎、黒澤明。 — キネマ旬報社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Kinema-Junpo-1967-June-early-3.jpg/1280px-Kinema-Junpo-1967-June-early-3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ryuzo Kikushima](https://film.one/media/person/104777/gallery-8f2460ae5af6.jpg) Ryuzo Kikushima — キネマ旬報社　撮影者不明, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Ry%C5%ABz%C5%8D_Kikushima.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![『野良犬』（1949年）の制作を記念して撮影された写真。左から三船敏郎、志村喬、黒澤明、菊島隆三、本木荘二郎。](https://film.one/media/person/104777/gallery-9e7d20d33bd3.jpg) 『野良犬』（1949年）の制作を記念して撮影された写真。左から三船敏郎、志村喬、黒澤明、菊島隆三、本木荘二郎。 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/The-Screenplay-Collections-by-Japanese-Writers-Volume-4-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Medal with Purple Ribbon 1980: Medal with Purple Ribbon (won)
- Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay 1964: Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay (won), for *High and Low*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ryuzo-kikushima