Jiraiya the Hero

1921 ActionFantasy 21 minutes (surviving print) Directed by Shōzō Makino

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About Jiraiya the Hero

Matsunosuke Onoe plays Jiraiya, a shape-shifting ninja from a folktale. He fights his enemies with magic and turns into a giant toad. What survives is a fragment of loosely connected fight scenes. Suminojo Ichikawa plays Orochimaru.

Cast & crew

More about Jiraiya the Hero

Shōzō Makino directed this silent trick film. The original Japanese title is Gōketsu Jiraiya (豪傑児雷也).

Themes

  • A shape-shifting ninja
  • Magic used in a fight
  • A change into a giant toad
  • Jiraiya
  • Orochimaru
  • toad
  • ninja
  • trick film
  • Matsunosuke Onoe

Look

Minoru Miki photographed the trick scenes in the surviving fragment.

Preservation

The UCLA Film & Television Archive has screened the surviving fragment.

Notes

  • Kijaku Otani plays Tsukikagegunryo Miyukinosuke. Chosei Kataoka plays Tsunatehime. Shoen Kataoka plays Takasago Yuminosuke.
  • Enichiro Jitsukawa, Ichitaro Kataoka, and Masatada Makino are also billed.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (GoketsuJiraiyajiraiyaTheHero1921)
  • Wikimedia Commons (Goketsu Jiraiya (1921).webm)