Institute / Research Cases / QS-RC-103
Akira Kurosawa
Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, High and Low, Kagemusha, Ran. The Golden Lion in Venice, the Palme d'Or in Cannes, an Honorary Academy Award. The film-maker whom Spielberg, Lucas and directors around the world called their master. The door to cinema was opened for him by his elder brother Heigo, a silent-film narrator. He lost that brother at twenty-three, and the young man who had meant to be a painter entered the world of film. On 26 April 1954 Seven Samurai opened. From his debut as a director to the summit of world cinema, his years of light fit within a single twenty-year span. Then came dismissal, and the depth of darkness in which he tried to take his own life. Why did so much light and so much darkness live within one life? What overlapped in his spacetime on that day? We read the vessel he was born with against the phases of destiny and time.
At a Glance
The case
- Subject
- Akira Kurosawa (黒澤明) — Film director and screenwriter
- Period analysed
- 1910–1998
- Three pillars
- Day 丁亥 / Month 己卯 / Year 庚戌
- Void branches
- 午未 (Horse–Goat)
- Destiny area
- 0.758 The area of the triangle formed by the three pillars on the sixty-cycle circle (maximum 1.30)
- Format
- PDF, 14 pages — written in Japanese
- Price
- ¥50,000 including tax
Research Brief
What the case shows
- His destiny holds a vessel of high standing, with his first guardian element standing in the open.
- In the years when the foundation of his life was laid, light and darkness were set in place together.
- The death of the brother who opened the door to cinema became his starting point as an artist.
- From his debut as a director to the summit of world cinema, everything fits within one twenty-year span.
- The stronger the light grew, the deeper its reverse was carved.
Questions
The questions the report answers
- Why did Kurosawa's films become classics for film-makers around the world?
- What overlapped on 26 April 1954?
- What does the death of his brother Heigo mean within his destiny?
- Why did so much light and darkness live within one life?
Public Record
The record, year by year
Selected events from the public record. Analysis and judgement are given in the report itself.
| 1933 | 癸酉 | 10 Jul — His brother Heigo, a silent-film narrator, dies at 27 |
| 1936 | 丙子 (天) | Joins PCL as an assistant director |
| 1943 | 癸未 (天天) | 25 Mar — Directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata |
| 1951 | 辛卯 (天) | 10 Sep — Rashomon wins the Golden Lion in Venice |
| 1954 | 甲午 (天天) | 26 Apr — Seven Samurai opens |
| 1968 | 戊申 | Dec — Dismissed as director of Tora! Tora! Tora! |
| 1971 | 辛亥 | Dec — Attempts suicide |
| 1980 | 庚申 | Kagemusha wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes |
| 1990 | 庚午 (天) | Receives an Honorary Academy Award |
| 1998 | 戊寅 | 6 Sep — Dies |
Year pillars change at Risshun, in early February. (天) = void year or void decade.
Contents
14 pages
- Destiny profile and chart
- Yin and yang charts
- Axis and type of destiny
- Ten-year phases
- Composite numerical table
- 庚 standing in the open, and his grade
- The first-phase clash: light and shadow
- A debut inside the double void
- The day of reflected light
- The two seals
- The four layers of 26 April 1954
- Timeline chart
- Public record
- Conclusion
Purchase
Order this Research Case
¥50,000incl. tax · PDF · Japanese
Email the case number QS-RC-103. We reply with an invoice; the PDF follows once payment is confirmed.
Analysis supervised by FAITH (Makoto Tokunaga) — MSc Economics, University of Warwick · CICP · Shugakuin Saii