Jiraiya

Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki later known as Jiraiya, with a heavy gun, overcoming a huge snake which has preyed on his toads

Jiraiya (自来也 or 児雷也^?, literally "Young Thunder"^[1]) , originally known as Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki, is the toad riding character of the Japanese folklore Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語^?, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya") . The tale was adapted into a 19th-century serial novel, a kabuki drama, several films, video games and a manga, and has also served as a source of influence for various other works.

Classic tale

In the legend, Jiraiya is a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to morph into a gigantic toad. As the heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade (綱手), a beautiful young maiden who has mastered slug magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower Yashagorō (夜叉五郎), later known as Orochimaru (大蛇丸), a master of serpent magic (the kanji 大蛇 literally means "giant snake" or "serpent"). It was first recorded in 1806.

19th century adaptations

Jiraiya riding a giant toad, depicted in an 1866 print by Yoshitoshi

• A novel version of the story was written by different authors and published in 43 installments from 1839 to 1868; one of its illustrators was woodblock artist Kunisada.^[2]
• Kawatake Mokuami wrote a kabuki drama based on the first ten parts of the novel, which premiered in Edo in 1852, starring Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII in the leading role.^[2]

In popular culture

• Jiraiya (also known as Ikazuchi-Maru) is the protagonist in the 1966 tokusatsu movie Kairyū Daikessen (known in English as The Magic Serpent). He and his nemesis Orochimaru transform into two daikaiju, a toad and dragon, respectively, and have a duel to the death. Tsunade is his love interest.
• There are also films Jiraiya (1914), Nidaime Jiraiya (1917), Jiraiya Gōketsu Tan (1918), Gōketsu Jiraiya (Jiraiya the Hero, 1921), Jiraiya (also known as Ninjutsu Sanyō Den, 1937), Hibari Torimonochō: Jiraiya Koban (1958), and Kunoichi Ninpō Chō: Jiraiya Hishō (1995).
• In the first game of Hudson Soft's Tengai Makyō series (known in the West as Far East of Eden), Tengai Makyō: Ziria (1989), Jiraiya ("Ziria") is a ninja from the Fire Clan who fights with a kodachi sword and has a pet frog which grows several times its size when he summons it in combat. Tsunade is a ninja girl from the Roots Clan (the arch-enemies of the Fire Clan) who uses snails and a huge axe in her attacks and is in love with Orochimaru, a wandering warrior and poet who wields a naginata and snake magic. In 2006, the game was remade as Tengai Makyou Ziria: Haruka naru Jipang. Its characters also all returned in the 1995 spin-off fighting game Far East of Eden: Kabuki Klash.
• Jiraiya Kenzan, an unreleased video game by Capcom.^[3]
• Shōnen Jiraiya, a manga by Shigeru Sugiura.
• In Naruto, a popular manga and anime television series, Jiraiya appears in the series as a ninja with the ability to summon giant toads. Along with the series' versions of Tsunade and Orochimaru, he is part of a trio of legendary ninja known as the Densetsu no Sannin ("Legendary Three Ninja"). One of the anime's episodes is titled "The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant."
• In the manga and anime series Gin Tama, Jiraia is the strongest ninja of the Oniwanbanshu.
• Jiraiya Byakko is a character in the manga and anime series Karasu Tengu Kabuto.
• In Persona 4, Yosuke Hanamura wields a persona named 'Jiraya,' which takes the form of an anthropomorphic frog that controls wind and is dressed as a ninja.
• In Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Ninja Black is named Jiraya and his mecha are all toad themed and have fire attacks.

See also

• Japanese folklore
• Jiraiya the Hero
• The Magic Serpent
• Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya

References

External links

• Vintage Ninja writeup about the 1921 film Jiraiya
• 1821 version of the story (Japanese)