Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies with Akira Kurosawa

Teruyo Nogami was a relative newcomer to film production when hired as a continuity/script assistant on Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon. A witness to its filming—and its near destruction in a fire—over the next fifty years she worked on all the master’s films—Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Dreams. No one was more closely involved in Kurosawa’s productions, and in this memoir, charmingly illustrated with her own sketches, Nogami writes candidly about the director’s energy, creativity, and his famous rages, telling the inside story on how so many classics of world cinema were made.

“Teruyo Nogami was Akira Kurosawa’s script supervisor throughout his career, more importantly she was his loyal assistant and supporter during both the good and bad moments of his life. She is an extraordinary woman and these memories are a path to understanding the temperament and genius of one of the few…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. So 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 his many sides, not always flattering, which is essential in grasping him. This book is a treasury of stories and a key to the great body of cinematic work of Akira Kurosawa.” — Francis Ford Coppola

“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

“Sure to become a classic memoir, essential for our understanding of one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.” — The Japan Times