And in case the name rings a distant bell, you may well know him as the extremely tall samurai in 1998 film Samurai Fiction, which was visibly inspired by Kurosawa’s treatment of the samurai film genre.

He also wrote the music.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film — its debt to Kurosawa was obvious (I love that there are at least three characters named after directors: Suzuki, Mizoguchi and Kurosawa!)…

It’s been ten years. I doubt Episode Two is in the wings … but I can dream.