Jiraiya and Real-Life Japanese Explorer Tenjiku Tokubei

Today by popular demand we're going to be taking a look at the Japanese folklore hero Jiraiya and the real life explorer Tenjiku Tokubei we're going to be taking a look at their origins their portrayals in Japanese culture and why they are often confused for one another we'll actually start with Tenjiku Tokubei because he came first the Tenjiku Tokubei was an adventurer and a merchant from the 1600s he traveled all across Asia engaging in commerce in China India Thailand and Vietnam born Tokubei his nickname Tenjiku is the old name for the Indian subcontinent so you could

read his name as India Tokubei the majority of the information of Tokubei comes from his self-written accounts in "Tokubei's Tale of Crossing the Sea to India" he details his travels and his adventures due to the charm of his tales of adventures and exotic lands and such Kabuki plays and Ukiyo-e adaptations of his exploits saw him come across mythical creatures magic and he himself becoming a sorcerer the sort of anti-hero who was popularly portrayed wielding magic and riding a giant toad now this leads to the story of the other character the famous Jiraiya now Jiraiya's original

tale was first published in the early 19th century some believe that the character was actually inspired by the tales and legendary depiction of Tenjiku Tokubei since both are portrayed as sorcerers summoning giant toads many people often confuse them for one another however an easy way to figure out who's who is to look at the reference material for the tattoos for example often the reference material will be Ukiyo-e woodblock prints and since they contain the name of the character you will be able to tell whether it's Jiraiya or if it's actually Tenjiku Tokubei going back to

Jiraiya's story though one version of his tale portrays him as a sort of righteous thief with Ninjutsu skills would graffiti his name at the sites where he stole other versions portray Jiraiya as a masterless samurai or a ronin who becomes a wanted bandit in any case through the various version of events he meets a shape-shifting toad who teaches him toad sorcery and advises him to use his powers for good Jiraiya eventually becomes a sort of vigilante and along the way he meets Tsunade who herself had a similar encounter she learns slug magic and is able

to summon a giant slug herself Jiraiya and Tsunade eventually marry and they become a renowned vigilante couple so to speak and through a series of events Jiraiya and Tsunade face off against the now popular figure of Orochimaru Orochimaru was born to a serpent mother and capable of wielding serpent magic and so this rivalry of sorcerers between Jiraiya Tsunade and Orochimaru has been popularly depicted across the ages in plays TV shows games and so on and so forth now to summarize Tenjiku Tokubei was a real life Japanese explorer whose legendary exploits grew in popularity in such

a way that he obtained legendary powers such as wielding magic and summoning a giant toad Jiraiya on the other hand is a mythical character who was extremely popular in the stories and place both of old and in modern times he is known as a thief with Ninjutsu skills and he has the ability to summon giant toads as well which is why they're both commonly confused for one another I hope you found this clip useful if you would like to see more figures covered specific themes related to traditional Japanese tattooing or even interviews with certain Horishi

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