Releasing This Year

Sanshiro Sugata is a 1943 Japanese martial arts drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, his feature directorial debut. It follows the story of the title character, played by Susumu Fujita, a talented though willful youth who learns discipline and martial prowess through his study of judo. The film is based on the 1942 novel by Tsuneo Tomita, which is a roman à clef of prominent judoka Shirō Saigō and the Kodokan–Totsuka rivalry.