Which 1943 Akira Kurosawa film was his directorial debut?

Which 1943 Akira Kurosawa film was his directorial debut? The answer is Sanshiro Sugata.

Released by Toho on March 25, 1943, Sanshiro Sugata was Kurosawa’s first feature as a director. It adapts Tsuneo Tomita’s 1942 novel, a fictionalized account inspired by judo rivalries and the legendary judoka Shirō Saigō. Susumu Fujita plays Sanshiro, a headstrong young man whose training teaches him discipline as well as martial skill.

Kurosawa had already worked in Japanese cinema as an assistant director and screenwriter, including on films made with his mentor Kajirō Yamamoto. That earlier experience can make later films such as Drunken Angel or Stray Dog seem like possible answers, but both came afterward. Rashomon, his international breakthrough, was not released until 1950.

The film also previews techniques associated with Kurosawa, including expressive weather, visual wipes, and carefully choreographed movement. Its success led to Sanshiro Sugata Part II in 1945, although the sequel was made under wartime conditions and had a more overtly propagandistic purpose.