The Samurai is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 television series made by Senkosha Productions

Senkosha Productions

Senkosha Productions was the television production arm of the large Japanese advertising agency the Senkosha Company. The Tokyo-based Senkosha Company still exists, though it has long since closed its television division, now known as Senko Kikaku...

 during the early 1960s. Its original Japanese title was Onmitsu Kenshi (隠密剣士, "Spy Swordsman"). The series premiered in 1962 on TBS

TBS (TV channel)

TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...

 and ran continuously until 1965 for ten self-contained story arcs (seasons), usually of 13 episodes each. Also created were two black-and-white feature films by Toei Company

Toei Company

is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...

, made in 1964 by the same crew which has created the TV series, and a stage show

Stage Show

Stage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley.The series began as a...

.

The Samurai proved to be highly successful despite its initially very limited budget. It was the first Japanese TV program ever screened in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, where it premiered in 1964 and built up a remarkably large fan-base among the local young audience at the time, rapidly becoming a cult favourite. Despite its massive popularity in Australia as well as success in Japan, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, the series was not widely screened elsewhere and its fame remains largely restricted to those countries.

It was followed in 1965 by the spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 series The New Samurai ('新隠密剣士, Shin Onmitsu Kenshi), featuring a completely new main character, which was however cancelled after only 39 episodes, compared to the 128 episodes of the original series. In 1973, a color TV series was also made for 26 new episodes in an abortive attempt of a remake

Remake

A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

 and then a short-lived reboot. All of the TV series were sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceutical

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

is the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and Asia and a top 15 pharmaceutical company. The company has over 19,000 employees worldwide and achieved $15.7 billion USD in revenue during the 2008 fiscal year...

.

Story

The series portrayed the adventures of a roving samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 detective/spy, Akikusa Shintarō (秋草新太郎) (played by Koichi Ose), whose real identity is Matsudaira Nobuchiyo - the older half-brother of Tokugawa Ienari

Tokugawa Ienari

Tokugawa Ienari; 徳川 家斉 was the eleventh and longest serving shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office from 1787 to 1837.-First wife:...

, the 11th Tokugawa shogun

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

, who is still a minor. Because he is the son of a concubine, Nobuchiyo has no claim to power, so he assumes the guise of a wandering swordsman named Shintarō to seek out and eliminate plots by rival feudal lords and thus protect his younger brother.

Originally it was planned to make only four distinct stories, with a different hero in each, however Shintarō was received so well that he remained for the rest of the series in which, acting on secret orders from the rōjū

Roju

The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...

 (high councillor) Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu

Matsudaira Sadanobu

Japanese daimyo of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief senior councilor of the Tokugawa Shogunate, from 1787 to 1793....

, he gathers information mostly in the various fiefdoms of the central Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

 and battles rival warriors and spies, often aided by his faithful ninja

Ninja

A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...

 assistant Tombei the Mist (霧の遁兵衛, Kiri no Tonbei) (played by Fuyukichi Maki

Fuyukichi Maki

was a Japanese actor. He worked in TV and film from 1951 to 1997. He played the role of the Iga ninja Tombei the Mist in the Edo period historical drama TV series The Samurai...

).

Characters

Akikusa Shintarō appeared as the main character in all ten stories of The Samurai, making his last appearance in the final episode "The Duel", where he was last seen on a boat with his arch-rival Kongō of Kōga, presumably about to engage in a duel to the death out on the lake. He lives among the ordinary people while posing as a rōnin

Ronin

A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....

 (masterless samurai), working undercover to protect Ienari's position as the shogun. Shintarō is a master swordsman, using the two traditional swords of the samurai (the long katana

Katana

A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

 and the short wakizashi

Wakizashi

The is one of the traditional Japanese swords worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan.-Description:...

). He is usually shown wearing a kimono

Kimono

The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

, sometimes with a hakama

Hakama

are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. They were originally worn only by men, but today they are worn by both sexes. Hakama are tied at the waist and fall approximately to the ankles. Hakama are worn over a kimono ....

, and has a ponytail (a top-knot and half-shaven head in the first season).

The series' second main character is Tombei the Mist, an Iga Ninja

Iga-ryu

Iga-ryū 伊賀流 is a historical school of ninjutsu. It became one of the two most well-known ninja schools in Japan, along with the Kōga-ryū. The Iga-ryū originated in the Iga Province in the area around the towns of Iga and Ueno...

 master considered to be the best of the Oniwabanshū

Oniwabanshu

The was a group of onmitsu government-employed undercover agents established by the 8th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune . They are sometimes described as "ninja".- History :...

 employed by the shogun to guard his castle, who first appears in the third story arc (second season in the Australian TV broadcast) and promptly becomes Shintarō's regular sidekick. Tombei is a master of disguise, skilled with shuriken

Shuriken

A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...

, swords (using the reverse-grip technique) and scaling hooks, also able to call-in the additional Men of Iga, and the two saved each other's lives numerous times. His outfit is a grey version of the shinobi shōzoku

Shinobi shozoku

The is a type of dark-coloured keikogi clothing, purportedly worn by practitioners of the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu.It is made up of split-toed tabi boots and socks; special trousers with double-ties which fasten at the ankles, knees and waist; a jacket with overlapping lapels which is...

 Iga outfit (as opposed to the black-clad ninja opponents) and he has a chonmage

Chonmage

The chonmage is a form of Japanese traditional haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo Period and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers...

 top-knot hair, sometimes covered by a grey ninja hood.

Later Shintarō is also accompanied by young boy with a pet monkey - Baba Shūsaku (played by Ōmori Shunsuke, replaced by Mitsuru Takeuchi for the first film). Some of the series other most memorable characters were its ninja antagonists, especially those played by the recurring Bin Amatsu.

Plot

Spy Swordsman (Onmitsu Kenshi)

The opening arc is distinctly western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

-inspired, with much horseback riding and gun fighting. It portrays the native Ainu people

Ainu people

The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...

 sympathetically as they substitute for American Indians in the frontier-like Ezo

Ezo

is a Japanese name which historically referred to the lands to the north of Japan. It was used in various senses, sometimes meaning the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and sometimes meaning lands and waters further north in the Sea of Okhotsk, like Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands...

 (modern Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

). Fuyukichi Maki appears in several episodes as the Ainu rebel leader Kamokuin, while Bin Amatsu plays two minor roles. It was actually aired as the last season in the Australian run of the series, as it was less representative of the show as a whole.

Shintarō has been ordered to investigate the resources of the Matsumae clan

Matsumae clan

The was a Japanese clan which was granted the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension all of Japan, from the Ainu 'barbarians' to the north. The clan was originally known as the Kakizaki clan who settled...

 and write a report about them. The lord of Matsumae suspects that this will lead to the shogunate taking control of his fiefdom and sends his fanatically loyal but rightful retainer, Kiba Jinjūrō (played by Toshiyuki Katsuki), who vows to kill Shintarō. During his investigation, Shintarō struggles to help the downtrodden local Japanese villagers and the oppressed Ainu, and also fights local bandits and smugglers, often inadvertently aided by his just rival Kiba.

Koga Ninjas (Ninpō Kōgashū)

The second story (aired as the first season in Australia) introduces ninja to the series, setting a theme that would then dominate The Samurai. Set in Kai Province

Kai Province

, also known as , is an old province in Japan in the area of Yamanashi Prefecture. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tokyo, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with Shizuoka Prefecture....

 (modern Yamanashi Prefecture

Yamanashi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...

), the story follows the plot of a society of 13 master Kōga Ninja

Koga-ryu

Kōka-ryū is a historical school of ninjutsu. It originated from the region of Kōka...

 and their followers to use the lost gold mine of a 16th century warlord Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

 to further their own ambitions - and Shintarō's efforts to foil them. The Kōga Ninja are led by Kōga Ryūshirō, a descendant of the founder of the Kōga, and include Genzō the Spider (played by Bin Amatsu, the first time in a ninja role), Kurobei who eventually defects to Shintaro, and the female ninja Oyo. Also introduced to the series is Shūsaku, a descendant of the great Takeda general Baba Nobukatsu, a real historical figure, whose father has been kidnapped by the Kōga Ninja.

Iga Ninjas (Ninpō Iga Jūnin)

Set in May 1788, the story concerns the mission of Shintarō, aided by Tonbei and his group of Iga Ninja, to stop Momochi Genkurō (played by Toshiyuki Katsuki), the best swordsman in Japan, and the leader of a renegade group of ten master Iga Ninja from the Manji Valley who are hired by the Lord of Owari

Owari Domain

The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at 619,500 koku, and was the largest holding of the...

 to assassinate Matsudaira Sadanobu on the Tōkaidō

Tokaido (road)

The ' was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name....

 road in the region between Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

 and Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. Unknown to his employer, Momochi himself has a secret agenda, to plunge the country back into civil war and revive the golden age of ninjutsu

Ninjutsu

or may be:*the arts associated with espionage and assassination in feudal Japan, see Ninja*modern schools of martial arts claiming to be based in these traditions, see Modern Schools of Ninjutsu*fictional depictions, see Ninja in popular culture...

. His group includes a woman ninja Okayo, who at first wants to avenge the death of her brother Koheita, but later develops feelings for Shintarō (a similar character, Kazeba the sister of Nuinosuke, appears in the follow-up story), and Gensai the Wolf (Okami no Gensai) played by Amatsu.

Black Ninja (Ninpō Yami Hōshi)

This story was shown in Australia after the final story even though it follows directly from Iga Ninja later on in 1788. It sees the return of Gensai the Wolf, who joins the Black Ninja (Yami Hōshi - literally Black Priest) group of Kōga Ninja led by Hakuunsai. The story revolves around an attempt to sign up disgruntled daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 (feudal domain lords, called "landowners" in the series) in a political plot against the central government to install the young lord of the Owari clan as the new shogun. To further their aims the Black Ninja begin killing "secret samurai" in Edo and in the provinces to expose the elaborate system of spies that the shogunate employs to keep tabs on the domain lords. The Black Ninja hope that by doing this they can foment anger and dissatisfaction with the government and induce the clans to join in the plot. Shintarō foils all of the Black Ninja's plans, obtains the scroll containing the signatures of the plotters and eventually uncovers the instigator of the conspiracy and the true identity of Hakuunsai. Finally, in a great act of chivalry he saves the Owari clan from certain annihilation by destroying the proof of the plot against the shogunate.

Fuma Ninja (Ninpō Fūma Ichizoku)

Set in 1790 in and between Edo and Odawara

Odawara Domain

was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in western Sagami Province. It was centered on Odawara Castle in what is now the city of Odawara.-History:...

, the story introduces Fūma Kotarō (the chief antagonist being again portrayed by Amatsu), a descendant and namesake of the infamous 16th century ninja Fūma Kotarō. He is obsessed with finding the buried treasure of the Hōjō clan

Hojo clan

See the late Hōjō clan for the Hōjō clan of the Sengoku Period.The in the history of Japan was a family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate. In practice, the family had actual governmental power, many times dictatorial, rather than Kamakura shoguns, or the...

 lost at the end of the 16th century when Odawara Castle

Odawara Castle

is a landmark in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.-History:Odawara was a stronghold of the Doi clan during the Kamakura period, and a fortified residence was built by their collateral branch, the Kobayakawa clan stood on the approximate site of the present castle...

 fell to Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

, and using the million pieces of gold it contains to revive the fortunes of the Fūma. Three mirrors hold the clues to its location: the Wind Thunder, the Water Tiger and the Fire Dragon mirrors. Most of the story is concerned with the efforts of the Fūma Ninja to find them and later to recover them from Shintarō and Tonbei who had taken them for safe-keeping. The younger sister of Fūma Kotarō, Oboro is introduced along the way and her attempts at obtaining the mirrors form a large part of the story. It ends with the apparent death of Fūma Kotarō when, wounded by Shintarō, he falls from a cliff.

Fuma Ninja Continued (Zoku Ninpō Fūma Ichizoku)

This story continues the search for the Hōjō treasure which takes both Shintarō and the Fūma around the former Musashi

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

 and Sagami

Sagami Province

was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...

 provinces. As in the case of two of the previous stories, a major enemy falls in love with Shintarō - this time it's the ninja princess Oboro (Naoko Saga, a pop singer from King Records), Kotarō's younger sister who has been introduced in the first part of the Fuma story and would also return in Contest of Death. Her attempts to aid Shintaro are discovered by Kotarō who orders his men to kill her. She is used as bait to trap Shintarō but he rescues her from certain death. In the end, Kotarō and Shintarō duel until Kotarō, apparently mortally wounded, blows himself up together with the treasure.

Ninja Terror (Ninpō Negoru-Shū)

This story is set in Kii Province

Kii Province

, or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. The Kii Peninsula takes its name from this province....

 (modern Wakayama Prefecture

Wakayama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Wakayama.- History :Present-day Wakayama is mostly the western part of the province of Kii.- 1953 Wakayama Prefecture flood disaster :...

) in December 1789 and concerns the succession of the new lord of Wakayama

Wakayama, Wakayama

is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan.-Background:Wakayama occupies 4% of the land area and has 40% of Wakayama prefecture's population. The city was founded on April 1, 1889....

. The rightful heir is Prince Yorikata, supported by the retainer Oribe Hida and guarded by six Kishū Ninja led by Genyō. Opposed to him is another retainer, Naitō Daigaku, who wants to put Yorikata's younger brother Yoshitsuna in his place so he would become the regent and control Kii. Naitō eventually wants to also assassinate Ienari and install Yoshitsuna as the 12th shogun and control the entire country. To this end he employs the Negoro Ninja, led by Garyūdōshi (played by Yoshio Yoshida

Yoshio Yoshida

was a Japanese professional baseball player with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. His number 23, is retired with the Hanshin Tigers...

), to carry out his plans, while Shintarō and Tonbei aid Yorikata and the Kishū Ninja.

Phantom Ninja (Ninpō Mabaroshi-Shū)

This story is set in and around Edo and concerns the mysterious Lord of Night (Kurayami no Gotairō) and his attempt to bring about Matsudaira Sadanobu's downfall by destroying those closest to him. To this end he hires Kongō of Kōga (actually Kotarō, returning due to popular demand from fans, and once again played by Amatsu) who in turn hires the seven Phantom (Maboroshi) Ninja from Phantom valley in Koga to assassinate those whose names appear in the so-called Book of Death. These include Tonbei and the other Iga Ninja as well as Shintarō. Shintarō thwarts all but one of the attempts to assassinate the others in the book and one by one he kills off the Phantom ninja, foiling their plot to disgrace Lord Sadanobu. In the end he is able to unmask the Lord of Night as Lord Rokkaku, one of the shogun's advisors.

This story is notable because the Phantom Ninja "baddies" are portrayed with depth and sensitivity. It also portrays a woman Phantom ninja named Chidori as being in every way equal to her male companions with some interesting ninja weapons and techniques of her, and she is one of only three female ninja in the series who manage to resist Shintarō's charms and remain true to their cause (the other two being Oko in Ninja Terror and Namiji in Fuma Ninja Continued).

Puppet Ninja (Kugotsu Ninpōchō)

Set in Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

, this story is about Shintarō's battles with a group of Puppet Ninja, led by the ancient master Genshin. Tonbei is sent to Hizen Province

Hizen Province

was an old province of Japan in the area of Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō...

 (modern Nagasaki

Nagasaki Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...

 and Saga

Saga Prefecture

is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...

 prefectures) to spy on the lords there because of suspected smuggling. When he fails to report, Shintarō goes after him and discovers Genshin of the Shiranui clan has been bringing in guns smuggled from abroad and distributing them to other lords in Hizen with the ultimate aim of toppling the central government and taking control of Japan. Kongō reappears in this story, stalking Shintarō and even saving him from the hands of the Puppet Ninja once so he can kill him himself later. This story was shorter than usual (only 10 episodes) because of the broadcast of the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

.

Contest of Death (Ayakashi Ninpōchō)

The originally final season of the whole series. Set in 1790, it tells of Kongō's attempts to have Shintarō assassinated by ninja of different schools, until they eventually turn on him instead. It ends with Kongō and Shintarō leaving together in a boat into the centre of a lake for a deciding final duel, Kongō rowing, while Tonbei, Shūsaku and Oboro (Kotarō/Kongō's sister from the Fuma Ninja stories) remained behind on the shore.

Music

The music accompanying The Samurai was composed by Hirooki Ogawa and was quite innovative for the time. It uses both Western and traditional instruments, with percussion playing a large part. There is a series theme song which is played frequently using both vocal and instrumental variations, in various keys and tempos. There are also a number of leitmotifs which recur throughout the series. Individual stories often have their own musical themes, the most notable of these being the "running" music and the "House of Death" theme in Phantom Ninjas and the "puppet player" song in Puppet Ninja.

Reception

Presumably responding to the increasing interest in Japan that accompanied the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a few episodes of The Samurai were screened by Channel 9

Nine Network

The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 in early 1964. After this first screening Channel 9 took the unprecedented step of inviting viewers to write in if they wanted to see more; the result was one of the largest viewer responses in the station's history, with thousands of letters sent in requesting more episodes. The entire series was shown, though the storylines were presented out of their original sequence as shown in Japan, which denied the Australian audience the intended effect of a mysterious, open-ended conclusion to the show. By 1965 it was the TV hit of the year, becoming the most popular programme in TCN-9

TCN

TCN stands for:* Take Care Now, a private company providing out-of-hours medical cover in England* TanenbaumCHAT North Campus, a private Hebrew high school in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada* TCN-9, a Sydney television station...

's history up to that time, surpassing even The Mickey Mouse Club and sparking the first wave of ninja-mania outside of Japan. The level of popularity it attained is remarkable given there was still much resentment of Japan in Australia at the time, although it may be explained by the fact that most of the fans were children and teenagers. The program proved so popular that a promoter brought out star Ose Koichi and a large supporting troupe to appear in a specially written 90-minute stage play based on the show, which played to capacity houses in both in Sydney and Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, and it was reported that more people (over 7,000, many of them in costume) turned out to greet him when he arrived at Essendon Airport

Essendon Airport

Essendon Airport is located at Essendon, in Melbourne's northern suburbs, Victoria, Australia. It is located next to the Tullamarine Freeway on , from the Melbourne Central Business District and from Melbourne Airport.-History:...

 in Melbourne than greeted The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 when they visited there in June 1964.

The success of The Samurai led Sydney TV channel ATN-7

ATN

-Medicine:*Acute tubular necrosis, a medical condition involving the death of tubular cells that form the tubule that transports urine to the ureters*Asymmetric tonic neck reflex*Atypical trigeminal neuralgia-Television:...

 to screen Phantom Agents

Phantom Agents

The Phantom Agents , 1964-1966, was a Japanese action television series of 130 black and white episodes.The series was created by Tatsuo Yoshida. The Phantom Agents were modern day ninjas working for the Japanese government, mostly against the dastardly "Black Flag" organization...

(Ninja Butai Gekkō), another ninja-themed TV series but set in the 1960s Japan, which then developed its own cult following. Novelist Ruth Manley took names, even characters and incidents from the show and recast and wove them into her three children's novels based on Japanese myths and folklore, The Plum Rain Scroll (1978), The Dragon Stone (1982) and The Peony Lantern (1987). In 2009 SBS One broadcast a TV documentary titled Shintaro! The Samurai Sensation That Swept a Nation that reviewed the Australian impact of the show and then was itself released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2010.

Home releases

Two VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 tapes were released in Japan in 1999/2000, one of The Samurai (containing the episodes "The Man From Edo", "The Stolen Case" and "The Duel") and one of The New Samurai (the episodes "The Search for Kage", "An Enemy Returns" and "The Star Sword"). The whole series was released on DVD (20 discs in a boxed set) in June 2003, later re-released as separate stories in April 2004. The discs are Region 2

DVD region code

DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...

 and in Japanese only.

Siren Visual

Siren Visual

Siren Visual is an Australian company which specialises in the distribution of Japanese anime, documentaries and off-beat cinema in Australia and New Zealand....

 released six story arcs of The Samurai on DVD in Australia between September 2002 and February 2006. In February 2010 Siren Visual Entertainment began releasing the complete series in English (remastered, with optional original Japanese sound track with subtitles) for the first time.

Films

The first film, titled simply Onmitsu Kenshi and released on March 28, 1964, concerns a group of daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 led by the Lord of Owari involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the shogun. The lead ninja antagonist, Kōga Ryūshirō from the second story, was again played by Bin Amatsu and the new character of his sister Kasumi was played by Junko Fuji

Sumiko Fuji

is a Japanese actress. The daughter of a producer at the Tōei studios, she originally began acting under the name Junko Fuji , becoming famous as the female lead in yakuza films against such stars as Ken Takakura and Kōji Tsuruta. She even starred in her own series as the knife-wielding gambler Red...

. The English-subtitled version of the film was released on DVD as Detective Fencer.

The second film, titled Zoku Onmitsu Kenshi ("Spy Swordsman Continued") and released on August 2 of the same year, concerns the search for a buried treasure in seven gold mines in the Izu Peninsula

Izu Peninsula

The is a large mountainous peninsula with deeply indented coasts to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshū, Japan. Formerly the eponymous Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture...

 and features the Fūma and the Iga ninja clans as well as the Tokugawa clan

Tokugawa clan

The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...

.

The New Samurai

The sequel series, made by the same creators (again produced by Shinichi Nishimura, written by Masaru Igami, scored by Hirooki Ogawa and directed by Funatoko Sadao and Tōru Toyama), run from 1964 and 1965. The New Samurai (Shin Onmitsu Kenshi) was originally aired in three story arcs on TBS between October 7, 1973 to March 31, 1974, however it failed to repeat the success of the first series. In Australia, where the first-run episodes of the new series replaced its predecessor on NWS-9 in January 1972, the new show was itself taken over just two weeks later by Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)

Josie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo....

.

The story of the second series is taking place in the turbulant Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū. This time the main character is Kage Shinnosuke (影信之介) (played by Shinichirō Hayashi), the head of the Kage (Shadow) Ninja group, aided by a ninja girl Kanae (played by Mizue Shiratori), a boy named Daisaku (played by Hideki Ninomiya), and the returning Tonbei the Mist (played again by Maki) who has been sent to investigate the mysterious unrest there. Bin Amatsu also returned in his usual role of a villain, playing Togakure Genki, chieftain of the Black Tide band of ninja pirates.

1973 series

The Samurai was revived in conjunction with Toei in October 1973 as a new, color series starring Shinichi Ogishima as Shintarō. As by this time Sadao Funatoko had died, the direction was given to his former assistant director, Akira Kikuchi. Traditionally, the head villain (the Akame ninja leader Garō Tessō) was played by Amatsu and Maki was also casted in his usual role of Shintarō's ninja companion, this time named Kayazaru (賀夜猿), but otherwise the cast was new, including Kyōko Yoshizawa as Shintarō's love interest and Masahide Yamada as his new boy sidekick. Two distinctively different seasons were made, each containing 13 episodes.

The series began on TBS on October 7, 1973 under the title Onmitsu Kenshi in the style of the original show. However, due to the failing ratings, in its second story arc the series has been renamed as Onmitsu Kenshi: Tsuppashire! (隠密剣士突っ走れ！) and pitted the hero against a variety of supernatural enemies such as demons, ghosts and dragons. Just as the previous attempt, this one also failed to achieve the success level of the original, and so the franchise's final episode was aired on March 31, 1974.

Sources

Nikki White's extensive fansite (with permission) and the Japanese Wikipedia.

External links

• The Samurai - Vintage Ninja