'70 - '74, I lived in Japan with my parents, but spoke almost no Japanese. There was a TV show that came on once a week. There was something about throwing 3 shuriken in the title shots. The main character seemed to be a merchant of some sort (not a samurai), though he did sometimes use those little metal things (what are they called?), like what Electra uses---Sai? Jutte? Anyway, he sort of figures out who the bad guys are, and gets the goods on them, and then (the big finish) of most episodes, he would appear again as a high ranking dude, in a fancy kimono with really long legs and he'd typically take off part of his kimono and show them his tattos, and they'd be like all "ok, now I'm terrified".

OK, so can anybody help me with any real info on this old show? What was the real name of the show? Who was the principle actor? What was the character that he was portraying? Is that a legitimate historical character from that bygone day?

Without speaking Japanese, my sister and I'd never miss an episode, though we were never exactly sure what was going on.

Thanks in advance for any clues whatsoever!

Charley

Sounds maybe like Mito Komon? (http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Mito_Komon). The old guy is the disguised uncle of the shogun, and the episode always ends with a big fight scene, interrupted when one of his retainers brandishes a little lacquered object with the Tokugawa crest on it and everybody suddenly realises he's a really powerful guy. Bad guys get their comeuppance, good guys triumph, move on to next village and next week. Nothing in there about tattoos though I think, so maybe I'm wrong or perhaps you're misremembering?

Mito Komon is still running, although obviously with different actors. Not bad if you like cheese :-)

That is not it. No, I think him snarling at them as he slaps his tattoo in the end scene is pretty much a signature. The principle actor has a sort of a round face, maybe a bit on the plump-ish side. Almost like the guy from "shichinin no samurai", the cheerful one. No beard. Toyama no Kinsan really sounds close, but I haven't been able to verify it by seeing an image of the actor playing Kinsan. I'm pretty positive that is the story. It's just that it was done by so many different actors, I cannot be sure.

Thanks for the help though...

CharleyGarrett Wrote:That is not it. No, I think him snarling at them as he slaps his tattoo in the end scene is pretty much a signature. The principle actor has a sort of a round face, maybe a bit on the plump-ish side. Almost like the guy from "shichinin no samurai", the cheerful one. No beard. Toyama no Kinsan really sounds close, but I haven't been able to verify it by seeing an image of the actor playing Kinsan.

I wonder if it was this guy? He looks sort of plump:

If not, the Japanese wikipedia page lists all the Kin-san lead actors and what years they appeared. You can search on their names in google or youtube etc. to see if you recognize them.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%81%A0%E...9.E3.83.9E

That really could be him! Nakamura Umenosuke 中村梅之助

Thanks!

This video is awesome as-is, but it features the terrifying tattoo from around 2:40 onwards: