Theatrical release: April 25, 1961.

In discussing YOJIMBO, director Akira Kurosawa was once quoted by film scholar Donald Richie as stating, "For a long time, I'd wanted to make a really interesting film. It finally turned into this picture. The story is so ideally interesting that it's surprising no one else ever thought of it."

YOJIMBO was later remade in 1964 as A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood), and again in 1996, as LAST MAN STANDING (directed by Walter Hill and starring Bruce Willis).

Toshirô Mifune usually adopted distinct mannerisms for each character he portrayed. As Sanjuro in YOJIMBO, Mifune has a distinct walk, often chews on a toothpick, and repeatedly scratches his unshaven chin. He received the award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance.

Decades after YOJIMBO, Tatsuya Nakadai (who plays the gun-toting Unosuke) went on to portray lead characters in two other acclaimed Kurosawa films, KAGEMUSHA and RAN.

Master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa also worked on Kurosawa's RASHOMON and KAGEMUSHA, as well as many other classic Japanese films, including Yasujiro Ozu's UKIGUSA and Kenji Mizoguchi's UGETSU.