Tombei the Mist

Tombei the Mist (Japanese: "Kiri no Tonbei"), was a leading character in the Japanese television historical drama series "The Samurai" (Japanese: "Onmitsu Kenshi"). The role of Tombei the Mist was played by Fuyukichi Maki.

"The Samurai", set in late 18th Century feudal Japan, was shown in Australia and became a cultural phenomenon in 1965, being the highest rating show on leading Sydney TV Channel TCN-9. The show was so fondly remembered decades later that between 2002 and 2006 DVDs of six series of "The Samurai" were released by Siren Visual Entertainment in Australia.

Tombei was born in Hojiro, in ninja country, near the castle town of Iga-Ueno in Iga Province. Tombei was an Iga Ninja and the faithful assistant of the Samurai Akikusa Shintaro who posing as a ronin (masterless Samurai) was actually operating under orders from the Shogun’s chief councillor ("rōjū"), Matsudaira Sadanobu. In the series Shintaro and Tombei battled against enemy ninja groups, such as the Koga Ninja and Fuma Ninja.

Tombei wore a grey version of the ninja outfit "(shinobi shozoku)" that represented the Iga Ninja in the TV series (as opposed to his black-clad ninja opponents). On his head he wore a traditional top knot but sometimes it would be covered by a grey ninja hood.

Tombei The Mist was always a loyal follower and friend to Shintaro and they saved each other's lives numerous times. However Tombei did have somewhat of a reputation among fans for arriving late on the scene after Shintaro had just finished slaying some evil-doers. Tombei would then look down on the slain ninja and say something like "Ah! Fuma Ninja!"

He was skilled with shuriken (star-knives), swords (using the back-handed ninja technique) and scaling hooks. In the series Tombei would often be climbing across rooftops or stealthily creeping in the ceiling.

Tombei first appeared in the episode "Secret Mission to Kyoto" in Series 3 (called Series 2 in the Siren DVD recent re-release). The character appeared with Shintaro in eight series culminating in the final episode of "The Samurai", "The Duel".

Fuyukichi Maki later reprised his role as Tombei in "The New Samurai" for three series with a new Samurai character, Kage Shinnosuke, replacing Shintaro. However it was not as successful as the original show.

References

*"The Samurai" DVDs Series 2 to 6 (Siren Visual Entertainment)

External links

* [http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/reguli/samchar.htm "The Samurai" cast & characters] at Nikki White's "The Ensovaari Embassy" website.
* [http://au.geocities.com/rocket42au/samurai/sam0cd1.html Scanlen's 'Samurai' Swap Cards image gallery] at Rocket TV Fan Page