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“ If you’re interested in movies, then you’re interested in the work of Akira Kurosawa. Teruyo Nogami was by Kurosawa’s side for almost 50 years, as he quietly (and sometimes, not so quietly) revolutionized the very grammar of cinema. This is a wonderfully intimate and beautifully written portrait of one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, which makes it essential reading.”
Martin Scorsese

“ Teruyo Nogami was Akira Kurosawa’s script supervisor throughout his career; more importantly, she was his loyal assistant and supporter during the good and bad moments of his life. She is an extraordinary woman, and her memoirs are a path to understanding the temperament and brilliance of one of the few true film geniuses of cinematic history. It’s not uncommon for a film director to have made one or two great films, but Kurosawa was able to create many masterpieces in many styles, set in both modern and classic times. The opportunity to know this artist through the lucid eyes of a long-time collaborator is a privilege and an opportunity. Nogami-san’s salty personality is perfect to show Kurosawa’s many sides; the portrait is not always flattering, but it is essential to understanding him. This book is a treasury of stories and a key to the great body of cinematic work of Akira Kurosawa.”
Francis Ford Coppola

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Teruyo Nogami was a relative newcomer to film production when she was hired as a continuity/script assistant on Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon in 1950. A witness to its filming, and its near destruction in a fire, over the next 50 years she worked on all the master’s subsequent films, from Ikiru, Seven Samurai, and Throne of Blood to Kagemusha, Ran, and Dreams.

No one was more closely involved in Kurosawa’s productions. In this memoir, beginning with her bittersweet reminiscences of Japan’s postwar film industry and charmingly illustrated with her own sketches, Nogami writes candidly about Kurosawa’s energy and creativity, and his famous rages. She tells the inside story on how so many classics of world cinema were made and reveals heretofore unknown details of Kurosawa’s volatile relationships with composer Toru Takemitsu and actors Shintaro Katsu and Toshiro Mifune. She also offers many episodes involving Kurosawa and other directors, such as John Ford, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Sidney Lumet, John Cassavetes, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Kurosawa was fortunate to have Nogami, just as we are fortunate to have her first-hand observations on genius, teamwork, devotion, and luck (good and bad) in the art of making movies.

TERUYO NOGAMI was born in Tokyo in 1927 and was for half a century a principal assistant to film director Akira Kurosawa. She is also a respected writer, reviewer, interviewer, editor, and film lecturer. Teruyo Nogami lives in Tokyo, where she remains a vital part of the film community. Her award-winning biographical work Chichi e no Requiem (“Requiem for a Father”) is being developed as a film by Yoji Yamada (The Twilight Samurai).