A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Elenco: Toshirō Mifune , Tatsuya Nakadai , Yôko Tsukasa , Isuzu Yamada , Daisuke Katō , Seizaburō Kawazu , Takashi Shimura , Hiroshi Tachikawa , Yōsuke Natsuki , Eijirō Tōno , Kamatari Fujiwara , Ikio Sawamura , Atsushi Watanabe , Susumu Fujita , Kyū Sazanka , Kō Nishimura , Takeshi Katō , Ichirô Nakatani , Sachio Sakai , Akira Tani , Namigoro Rashomon , Yoshio Tsuchiya , Gen Shimizu , Jerry Fujio , Yutaka Sada , Shin Ôtomo , Shôichi Hirose , Hideyo Amamoto , Shôji Ôki , Fuminori Ôhashi , Hiroshi Kiyama , Senkichi Ômura , Noriko Honma , Ryusuke Nishio , Naoya Kusakawa , Nadao Kirino , Mitsuo Tsuda , Shinpei Takagi , Jun Ôtomo , Akio Kusama , Yasuzô Ogawa , Hiroshi Takagi , Jun'ichirō Mukai , Takuzō Kumagai , Ichirô Chiba , Haruya Sakamoto , Rinsaku Ogata , Takeo Ogushi , Yoko Terui , Hiromi Mineoka , Michiko Kawa .