The Samurai

I don't know how many Filipinos still recall this particular television series. It was quite popular among adults and kids during the late 1960s to the early 1970s. It was a television series that was imported from Japan and was noted for its magnificent and skillful swordplay. The following video clip shows the program's then familiar opening scene:

This show was called "The Samurai". It was a weekly series shown on Channel 11, a television station the Elizalde family owned that existed during the pre-martial law years.

The show's hero was "Shintaro Akikusa" or more popularly known as "Shintaro", a wandering swordsman played by a Japanese tv actor, Koichi Ose. His sidekick was "Tombei the Mist", played by the late Fuyukichi Maki.

In the story, Shintaro and Tombei battled the evil Koga Ninja, a clan of ninjas that were clad in black in 17th century Japan. Shintaro and Tombei were, in turn, aided by the good ninjas of the Iga Ninja clan.

The show which ran for about half an hour every week was noted for its brilliant swordplay, authentic period costumes, magicianship, and special effects. The ninjas were also noted for their high leaps and lightning fast movement, abilities that impressed so many a Filipino kid that it became a hugely popular tv show at the time.

The show was produced by Japan's Senkoska Film Company and originally ran in that country from 1962 to 1965. It became a huge success in Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, the three biggest media markets in the Asia-Pacific region at the time. Originally produced in Japanese, the show was dubbed into English for release outside the Japanese market.

The Elizalde-owned Channel 11 tv station closed upon the declaration of martial law in 1972. The showing of "The Samurai" was then transferred to RBS-7 (Republic Broadcasting System, the forerunner of GMA-7), a tv station that was then owned by the family of the late Robert "Uncle Bob" Stewart.

In spite of its low budget, the show was a gem. Although the story line was of the simple black-and-white, good-versus-evil kind, the show was so well made and well acted that it was able to successfully capture the imagination of a generation.

Reruns of the show were shown on Philippine television on and off during the 1970s. It made a brief comeback in the mid-1980s but the reruns ended permanently not long afterwards. It is one of those great shows from my childhood that I truly miss.