

Ikiru
A big story of a little man which will grip your soul...
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
TMDB
8.3/10
1,419 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
View on IMDb
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $85K
- Box office
- $55.2K
- Language
- Japanese
- dying and death
- japan
- bureaucracy
- age difference
- praise
- office
- night life
- sense of life
- playground
- obsequies
- swing
- loneliness
Top billed cast


















Behind the camera
Director
Music
Produced in
Japan
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Gallery












Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- Theatrical (limited)25 Mar 1956
- Digital / OTTNR27 Oct 2015
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical30 Apr 1958
- Physical12BFI DVD22 Sept 2003
- Theatrical (limited) BFI Japan: 100 Years of Japanese Cinema season18 Oct 2021
- PhysicalPGBFI Blu-ray19 Aug 2024
AustraliaAU
- PhysicalPGDVD7 Apr 2006
- Theatrical (limited)PGRe-Release25 Oct 2024
FranceFR
- Premiere9 Oct 1952
- TheatricalTP31 Aug 1966
- Physical27 Apr 2016
GermanyDE
- Physical1627 Apr 2014
IsraelIL
- PhysicalBlu-ray21 Oct 2014
ItalyIT
- TVRaiuno25 Jan 1986
JapanJP
- Theatrical9 Oct 1952
NetherlandsNL
- Theatrical12Re-release6 Mar 1980
- Physical12DVD12 Mar 2013
- Theatrical124k restored26 Jun 2025
- Digital / OTT12Eye Film Player26 Jun 2025
South KoreaKR
- Theatrical1527 Oct 2015
SpainES
- TheatricalICAA 80885024 Jan 1972
SwedenSE
- Theatrical159 Oct 1952
Frequently asked questions
Ikiru was released on 9 October 1952.
Audience reviews
3- C7/10
CinemaSerf
9/9/2022
Takashi Shimura is "Watanabe", an elderly civil service lifer who is told that he has terminal stomach cancer. After years of a disciplined, rather pedestrian existence he now feels a need to emancipate himself and start to live a little. The story is told through two threads: one looks at the end of the old gent's life from his own perspective; the second takes a retrospective view from the wake as his family and co…
- P7/10
Peter McGinn
4/20/2023
I watched the English follow-up version (Living) before watching this original, and wished I had reversed my order. I liked Living much more than this original, but since both were written by the same Japanese scriptwriter, my preference might be cultural rather than due to quality issues, not to mention the scriptwriter had come up with improvements through the intervening years. The club and bar scenes near the …
- B7/10
badelf
7/18/2023
Typical Kurasawa creative framing in the beginning of the movie. The scene of dancers shot through bead curtains swinging in time to the music was brilliant. His choice of Miki Odagiri for muse is brilliant. Her laugh is infectious. The last act stuck me as rather static. It's perhaps from cultural mores about the dead I don't understand (like the taboo of not ever sticking your chopsticks into the rice bowl!). Kura…
Member reviews
Sign in to rate and review. Browsing stays free and open.
Sign inMember comments
0Sign in to post a comment. Browsing stays free and open.
Sign in











