Shinobu Hashimoto, the screenwriter whose work is credited as being among the most influential in film history, died Thursday of pneumonia at his Tokyo home, according to Japanese media reports. He was 100.

Seven Samurai

Hashimoto was the screenwriter for some of the most important films in Japanese history, including Rashomon and Seven Samurai from director Akira Kurosawa. Rashomon was his first work made into a film, and he went on to write nearly 80 scripts, including collaborations with such Japanese cinema giants as Kurosawa, Tadashi Imai, Mikio Naruse, Kihachi Okamoto and Masaky Kobayashi.

The Hashimoto story almost ended before it began. He enlisted in the Japanese army in 1938 but caught tuberculosis and spent four years in a veterans hospital. It was while hospitalized that a chance meeting with another Japanese veteran opened his eyes to a new world. He was given a magazine on Japanese cinema that included a sample screenplay. He quickly compiled something and sent it to Mansaku Itami, then considered Japan’s best screenwriter.

Related Story 'Rashomon'-Inspired Drama From Billy Ray, Virgil Williams & Amblin Television In Works At HBO Max