The last film directed by Akira Kurosawa, released in 1993, was Madadayo. Its Japanese title is commonly translated as Not Yet, a phrase that captures the film’s themes of aging, memory, friendship, and a continued refusal to surrender to death.
Madadayo is based on the life and writings of Hyakken Uchida, a Japanese professor of German literature. The story follows Professor Hyakken Uchida after he retires from teaching. Each year, his former students gather for a celebration and ask whether he is ready to leave this world. He answers with the title phrase, “Madadayo”—not yet.
Kurosawa was in his early eighties during production, making the film’s meditation on mortality especially personal. Tatsuo Matsumura played the professor, while Kyōko Kagawa portrayed his wife. The film was released in Japan by Toho on April 17, 1993, and screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Madadayo is sometimes confused with Rhapsody in August or Dreams because those films were also late Kurosawa works. However, Rhapsody in August preceded it in 1991, and Dreams was released in 1990.