Shinobi no Mono





Shinobi no Mono (忍びの者) is a series of jidaigeki novels written by Tomoyoshi Murayama originally serialized in the Sunday edition of the newspaper Akahata from November 1960 to May 1962.

Novels
Set during Japan's Sengoku period, the novels depicted Goemon Ishikawa, a famous outlaw hero who was boiled alive at the end of the 16th century by order of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, as a ninja who fought against samurai warlords.

Films
Between 1962 and 1966, a series of eight Shinobi no Mono films (also known as Ninja, a Band of Assassins in English) starring Raizo Ichikawa were produced and released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company. The first three films are based on the novel, while the five subsequent films are based on four original screenplays by Hajime Takaiwa (also the screenwriter on the first three films) and one original screenplay by Kinya Naoi.

Mission Iron Castle (Shinobi no Shu), sometimes also known as Ninja 9 in English, is sometimes incorrectly presented as a part of the Shinobi no Mono series, but actually it is not.

Television series
The novels were also adapted into a 52-episode television series starring Ryuji Shinagawa and co-produced by the Toei Company and television network NET (now known as TV Asahi) and broadcast from July 24, 1964 to July 30, 1965.