Kurosawa's screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto dead at 100

Tokyo : Japanese screenwriter-director Shinobu Hashimoto, well known for writing Akira Kurosawa's iconic Japanese films including "The Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon", is dead. He was 100.

Hashimoto died on Thursday from complications caused by pneumonia, reports variety.com.

The screenwriter had also made his name in production. In 1973, he launched a production company Hashimoto Production.

Hashimoto wrote or co-wrote more than 70 screenplays, including many of late Japanese director Kurosawa's classics, also including "The Hidden Fortress" (1958).

He also directed three films during his long career, and also scripted for other directors, including Masaki Kobayashi ("Harakiri" in 1962) and Kihachi Okamoto ("The Sword of Doom" in 1966).