Behind the story: Takumi Tsutsui explains how he became a real ninja grandmaster and looks back at Jiraiya's success in Brazil
An interview with Takumi Tsutsui, the actor forever identified with Jiraiya, originally published on Yasuhisa Furuhara's YouTube channel and translated here by Kyoudai Express.
Toha Yamaji in World Ninja War Jiraiya (Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya, 1988)
Anyone who grew up in Brazil watching Rede Manchete remembers Toha Yamaji and the cry of "Olímpica!" that the Brazilian dub turned into a catchphrase. The network aired World Ninja War Jiraiya from 1989, and more than three decades later the show is still alive in the memory of those viewers. Takumi Tsutsui, the actor behind the hero, recently sat down for a long talk on Yasuhisa Furuhara's YouTube channel.
The conversation is relaxed and full of jokes, and it turns up real surprises about the life Tsutsui leads away from the camera. It also brings out production details that fans rarely get to hear, and what follows is the full exchange, arranged by subject.
Tsutsui-san, you sort of work as a ninja these days, don't you?
Yes, I am a ninja.
But to start at the beginning, why did you become a ninja?
Why did I become a ninja? Well, I was sort of made into one, you know?
How do you mean?
You know the man who played my father? Hatsumi-sensei. When he handed me his business card, it said "Ninja" on it.
But wasn't he an actor?
He was not an actor, no. That man is a ninja. A modern-day ninja.
He is a ninja?! Modern-day?! How does that work? How? But he was acting properly back then, wasn't he?
He was acting?
He was! His performance was serious and it stayed with you!
Was he, really?
And that man is a real ninja?
Yes.
That is amazing! So the Bujinkan really exists?
It really does exist.
It really does?!
Yes, the Bujinkan... But that building is a different one, the training did not happen there.
So that was a lie?
Yes, it was a lie. That was only the shooting location, just a set.
But is it all right for me to accept that? [On being awarded the first dan simply by watching the master during the shoot]
Yes, you already are one [Hatsumi-sensei said].
Isn't that skipping far too many steps?! That beats any fast-track promotion you see in the United States! Is that really all right?
He said something like "You are a Shihan-dai (assistant master)". I told him myself: "I really do not need all that".
What do you mean? The title of Soke, the head of the school?! Wait, so he passed the Soke title on to you just like that, more or less out of nowhere?
Well... Yes, yes, yes. He sort of forced it on me.
Far too forced! It was almost as if the whole thing had been pushed onto you.
That is it, that is it! I even said to the other people there: "For me, inheriting this Soke title is absolutely impossible". But the Sensei's word is absolute, and we have to obey.
Ah, does the Tsutsui Dojo exist these days? Is it running right now?
It exists, it exists.
And can you do things like the vanishing-in-the-mist technique (Kirigakure no Jutsu)?
I do not do that.
What do you do, then? What does being a ninja mean?
Being a ninja means, above all, "holding firm" (enduring). It means being someone who runs away.
But in the Jiraiya series, didn't they talk about "enduring and hiding" (Toshinobu)?
That does not matter much.
No, but they did say it!
Basically, the ninja runs away and brings the information back. Fundamentally, you are not supposed to fight.
Is that so?
That is right. Even with shuriken, you do not necessarily have to hit the enemy. They are there to create a distraction, and while the enemy is caught off guard, you get away.
And how many people can take part? Where do you usually hold the sessions?
Sometimes we hold them in parks. We spread out a blue tarp, and then any number of people can come.
So the Togakure style (Togakure-ryu) that appears in Jiraiya is a form of ninjutsu that really exists?
Yes, it exists.
The World Ninjas are not monsters (kaijin), they are ordinary people. Did you ever wonder whether it was all right [to fight them] or anything like that?
Well, look, some of them ended up becoming friends too.
How did you feel on set back then, acting while one strange character after another kept turning up in that very peculiar world?
To begin with, I had just left Osaka and come to Tokyo. That was my first big job. So I was giving everything I had, second by second, you know? Memorizing the lines already used up all my energy... Because I was so focused on doing my best, I did not even notice whether the characters were strange or not. I was far too busy with myself. I put everything I had into the acting alone. How to play the part... I was already at my limit with that.
People asked whether you have a story or a strong memory of Hirota-san [Toppa, the spear ninja] that you could share. And why did he disappear so suddenly?
The truth is that at the time not even we were told anything. We were wondering ourselves why he had vanished. I heard that he practiced Chinese kempo and that there was a championship or something along those lines, and that he could not take part in the shoot because of it. That is roughly what I heard, though I think it was only an excuse [from the production].
His sword work [Kenji Ohba / Yajiro] is far too fast, so keeping up with his rhythm must have been very hard, wasn't it?
There was no difficulty at all. Ohba-san is a wonderful person. In practice, he was the one adapting to my rhythm. He must have adjusted himself to me, which is why I never found it hard.
And what was your honest impression of him?
My honest impression? "Just what you would expect from the great Kenji Ohba".
Which of you is older?
Ohba-san is quite a bit older.
And how did you react when you first met him?
We talked in a completely natural way, because we had already run into each other several times on the set before that, so it felt ordinary.
And during the shoot, did he teach you anything or ever scold you?
He never scolded me. He did teach me things about sword movement and about fight choreography (tate). He never explained any of it in words, though. It was done in the style of "stealing the technique with your eyes".
Watching Takumi Tsutsui and Yasuhisa Furuhara trade stories, two heroes from the Showa and Heisei eras of tokusatsu, shows how the genre keeps bringing generations together on screen and off. In Brazil, where Jiraiya became a phenomenon, fans take real satisfaction in hearing their country still spoken of so warmly by the man who inherited the Togakure line.
And what about you, do you remember which World Ninja was your favorite in Jiraiya?