What is the name of the princess in The Hidden Fortress?

The princess in The Hidden Fortress is Princess Yuki.

Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 jidaigeki adventure follows Yuki, heir to the defeated Akizuki clan. General Makabe Rokurōta escorts her and the clan’s hidden gold across enemy territory toward the allied Hayakawa domain. To protect her identity, Yuki pretends to be deaf and mute while travelling with two greedy peasants, Tahei and Matashichi.

Yuki is played by Misa Uehara, while Toshiro Mifune plays Rokurōta. The film’s story deliberately reveals the heroine’s importance gradually, because the audience initially experiences events largely through the peasants’ limited understanding. That perspective also influenced George Lucas’s approach to Star Wars: Princess Yuki is commonly identified as an influence on Princess Leia, while the two peasants helped inspire C-3PO and R2-D2.

A common mix-up is confusing Yuki with Princess Sen or Princess Kaguya, characters from unrelated Japanese stories. The 2008 remake, Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess, also features a Princess Yuki, but she is played by Masami Nagasawa rather than Uehara.