Botan Rice Candy Stickers
I love me some Botan Rice Candy! I was first exposed to the slightly citrusy chews with their dissolving edible wrappers and souvenir stickers in the 70s by my uncle Hiro, and saved a ninja-themed one from the 80s. They … Continued
Books of the 60s Japanese ninja boom
Charles Vincent Gruzanski was a travelled student and teacher of Japanese martial arts, including modern ninjutsu. His son Robert maintains an invaluable website as a memorial to his father’s accomplishments and passions. His scans of 1960s Japanese ninja articles and … Continued
Animated credits – FURAI NINPOCHO (1965)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOV 2009 — With the new animated adventure Kubo and the Two Strings in theaters this weekend, thought we’d take a look at some other animation. I absolutely adore 60’s animated movie credits, and these somewhat DePatie-esque panels from the … Continued
Rare 1986 trash fetches big money 30 years later
The collectors market for failed lines, knock-offs and forgotten oddities from 1980s toy shelves never seems to grow cold. These super rare offshoots of the Mel Appel “Weird Ball” mutations recently erupted on eBay. If that slanty, cross-eyed, buck-toothed head-shakingly … Continued
VN REVISITED: Torawakamaru
Originally published in December of 2009 — Revised with name correction thanks to Ichi Ban The 1957 Toei FX romp Ninjutsu Gozen-Jiai (aka Torawakamaru, the Koga Ninja) is the perfect example of the pre-60’s craze kid’s ninja film: mischievous wizard hero, evil sorcerer, … Continued
It’s that time of year again…
Yes, it’s the 4th of July again, so that means its time to take a look back at AMERICAN NINJA! There’s no better way to celebrate the birth of the USA than by appreciating a low-budget exploitation flick based on a Japanese martial … Continued
Double Rip-Off!
A reader recently sent me a fragment of an image found on tumblr, looking for an ID. At the time I couldn’t identify which particular variant of which particular Godfrey Ho film under which particular alternate title this would have … Continued
SEVEN YEARS!
Another birthday for VN. Seven years ago today we published our first post, featuring press stills from Akai Kageboshi (The Red Shadow). It’s been a great ride so far, here’s to you all our readers and fans, and may we … Continued
“THE NINJA” vs. “THE NINJA: The Movie”
20+ weeks on The New York Times‘ Best Seller list, millions of copies in print, five sequels and enduring publication on all modern electronic platforms… Eric Van Lustbader‘s vanguard novel The Ninja turns 36 years old this month. It was easily the … Continued