Ryuzo Kikushima (菊島 隆三, Kikushima Ryūzō, 1 March 1914 – 18 March 1989[1]) was a Japanese writer and film producer who is best known for co-writing the screenplays for several Akira Kurosawa films, including Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo and High and Low.[2] He also produced several of Kurosawa's early 1960s films.[2] In addition to his work with Kurosawa, screenplays he wrote or co-wrote include Tora! Tora! Tora!, Hiroshi Inagaki's Arashi and The Birth of Japan, and Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, on which he also served as producer.[2]
In 2013, Kikushima and frequent screenwriting collaborators Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni were awarded the Jean Renoir Award by the Writers Guild of America West.[3]