There were a hundred or more movies and TV shows delivering a consistent, almost branded, ninja idiom in Japan during their 60s craze. Entering 2026, we have access to more of that astounding vintage media than ever before, and posterity … Continued
It is yet again ComiCon week down in San Diego. Yet while the nerd-world’s attention is hyper-focused on the breaking news and goings-on of the convention, its core reason for existence — the comic book industry — is increasingly irrelevant, … Continued
The rarest antiques are the things that are the most disposable when produced, and its hard to think of anything (outside of ice cream bars maybe) with a shorter shelf life than a sheet of temporary tattoos for kids. Somehow … Continued
Hot damn are paper “Sugoroku” game board sheets just the coolest! The 300 year old board game akin to Chutes and Ladders (“Snakes and Ladders” for you Europeans), is aimed at adults and children alike, is a New Year’s tradition in … Continued
Compiled from a series of posts published Summer 2009 Mitsuteru Yokoyama is probably the second most prolific creator of crossover ninja properties next to Shirato Sanpei. Both Kagemaru of Iga and Masked Ninja Akakage expanded from their pulp roots to … Continued
Depending on what school of thought you believe, the stereotypical ‘Ninja-To’ is either pure myth propagated by popular media or martial tradition traced back centuries in Japan. Well, if EITHER of those is true, then you’d think the short, straight … Continued
I have no idea what this game was (some sort of sliding-type deal from a kids’ magazine, with punch-out tokens) but man is the character art laced throughout the board amazing or what?
Additional images from the inserts of the laserdisc of the 1963 “Kagaemaru of Iga” live action film: See more at Black Sun. Visit the creator’s official website (Japanese) here, with some great manga cover galleries under the “Published” link. Buy … Continued
Inspired by Shonen King‘s excellent work over at Black Sun, here’s some of the stills from the inserts of Toho’s Iga no Kagemaru laserdisc: More coming tomorrow. In the meantime, buy the really fun 1963 film at Kurotokagi.
See, I get busy with day jobs, tax prep and real life shit, and all these other sites start kicking my ass… I just love the Black Sun blog, but he’s above and beyond awesome this week with a great … Continued