A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
- Kikuchiyo: Toshirō Mifune
- Kambei Shimada: Takashi Shimura
- Gorobei Katayama: Yoshio Inaba
- Kyuzo: Seiji Miyaguchi
- Heihachi Hayashida: Minoru Chiaki
- Shichiroji: Daisuke Katō
- Katsushiro Okamoto: Isao Kimura
- Shino: Keiko Tsushima
- Rikichi’s Wife: Yukiko Shimazaki
- Manzô – Father of Shino: Kamatari Fujiwara
- Mosuke: Yoshio Kosugi
- Yohei: Bokuzen Hidari
- Rikichi: Yoshio Tsuchiya
- Gisaku, the Old Man: Kokuten Kōdō
- Kidnapper: Eijirō Tōno
- Coolie A: Jun Tatara
- Bun Seller: Atsushi Watanabe
- Grandfather of Kidnapped Girl: Toranosuke Ogawa
- Samurai: Isao Yamagata
- Bandit Scout: Kichijirô Ueda
- Blind Player: Sôjin Kamiyama
- Samurai Who Kicks Farmers: Gen Shimizu
- Gosaku: Keiji Sakakida
- Bandit Chieftain: Shinpei Takagi
- Bandit Second-in-Command: Shin Ôtomo
- Samurai with Gun: Toshio Takahara
- Tea Shop Owner: Hiroshi Sugi
- Weak Ronin: Hiroshi Hayashi
- Coolie #2: Sachio Sakai
- Strong-Looking Samurai: Sôkichi Maki
- Buddhist Priest: Ichirô Chiba
- Wife of Gono Family: Noriko Sengoku
- Woman Farmer: Noriko Honma
- Samurai: Masanobu Ôkubo
- Bandit: Etsuo Saijo
- Samurai: Minoru Itô
- Samurai: Haruya Sakamoto
- Samurai: Gorô Sakurai
- Bandit: Hideo Shibuya
- Samurai: Kiyoshi Kamoda
- Bandit Who Escapes: Senkichi Ômura
- Bandit Who Escapes: Takashi Narita
- Bandit: Shôichi Hirose
- Bandit: Kôji Uno
- Bandit: Masaaki Tachibana
- Bandit: Kamayuki Tsubono
- Bandit: Taiji Naka
- Bandit: Chindanji Miyagawa
- Bandit: Shigemi Sunagawa
- Bandit: Akira Tani
- Bandit: Akio Kusama
- Bandit: Ryûtarô Amami
- Bandit: Jun Mikami
- Bandit: Haruo Nakajima
- Farmer: Sanpei Mine
- Samurai: Masahide Matsushita
- Samurai: Kaneo Ikeda
- Gisaku’s Son: Takuzô Kumagaya
- Farmer: Ippei Kawagoe
- Farmer: Jirô Suzukawa
- Farmer: Junpei Natsuki
- Farmer: Kyôichi Kamiyama
- Farmer: Haruo Suzuki
- Farmer: Gorô Amano
- Farmer: Akira Kitchôji
- Farmer: Kōji Iwamoto
- Husband of Gono Family: Hiroshi Akitsu
- Farmer: Akira Yamada
- Farmer: Kazuo Imai
- Farmer: Eisuke Nakanishi
- Farmer: Toku Ihara
- Farmer: Hideo Ôtsuka
- Farmer: Shû Ôe
- Farmer in Front of Gono: Yasuhisa Tsutsumi
- Farmer: Yasumasa Ônishi
- Farmer in Front of Gono: Tsuneo Katagiri
- Farmer: Megeru Shimoda
- Farmer: Masayoshi Kawabe
- Farmer: Shigeo Katô
- Farmer: Yoshikazu Kawamata
- Coolie #3: Takeshi Seki
- Gisaku’s Daughter-in-Law: Haruko Toyama
- Woman Farmer in front of Gono: Tsuruko Mano
- Woman Farmer: Matsue Ono
- Woman Farmer: Tsurue Ichimanji
- Woman Farmer: Masako Ôshiro
- Woman Farmer: Kyôko Ozawa
- Farmer’s Wife: Michiko Kadono
- Farmer’s Wife: Toshiko Nakano
- Farmer’s Wife: Shizuko Azuma
- Farmer’s Wife: Michiko Kawabe
- Farmer’s Wife: Yûko Togawa
- Farmer’s Wife: Yayoko Kitano
- Farmer’s Wife: Kyoko Mori
- Woman Farmer: Misao Suyama
- Woman Farmer: Toriko Takahara
- Samurai Wandering through Town (uncredited): Takeshi Katō
- Samurai Wandering through Town (uncredited): Tatsuya Nakadai
- Samurai Wandering through Town (uncredited): Ken Utsui
- Farmer (uncredited): Ren Yamamoto
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- Editor: Akira Kurosawa
- Screenplay: Shinobu Hashimoto
- Screenplay: Hideo Oguni
- Producer: Sōjirō Motoki
- Original Music Composer: Fumio Hayasaka
- Assistant Art Director: Yoshirô Muraki
- Director of Photography: Asakazu Nakai
- First Assistant Camera: Takao Saitō
- Production Assistant: Teruyo Nogami
- Stunts: Haruo Nakajima
- Accountant: Yûji Hamada
- Assistant Director: Yasuyoshi Tajitsu
- Assistant Director: Hiromichi Horikawa
- Assistant Director: Sakae Hirosawa
- Production Design: Takashi Matsuyama
- Production Office Assistant: Takeharu Shimada
- Lighting Technician: Shigeru Mori
- Sound Recordist: Fumio Yanoguchi
- Hairstylist: Midori Nakajô
- Editorial Manager: Hiroshi Nezu
- Sound Effects Editor: Ichirô Minawa
- Costume Design: Kōhei Ezaki
- Lighting Technician: Mitsuo Kaneko
- Art Direction: Sô Matsuyama
- Property Master: Kôichi Hamamura
- Makeup Artist: Junjirô Yamada
- Sound Assistant: Masanao Uehara
- Costume Design: Mieko Yamaguchi
- Assistant Director: Toshi Kaneko
- Assistant Director: Masaya Shimizu
- Still Photographer: Masao Fukuda
Credits: TheMovieDb.