Fûtarô Yamada(1922-2001)
- Writer
Son of doctors, his first intention was to be a doctor, too, but during
his attendance at the Tokyo Medical College in 1947, one novel he wrote
was awarded a prize by a detective novel magazine, and after graduation
in 1950, he decided to be a novelist. His favourite genres were the
detective story and the ninja, "Koga Ninpocho" being the most famous.
In 1956, two of his detective novels were converted into films, but
from 1963 on, almost all of his 16 large screen adaptations were ninja
novels. The success of the first movie, "Edo Ninpocho: Nanatsu no Kage"
("Record of Edo Ninjas: Seven Shadows") followed by "Tsukikage
Ninpocho: Nijuichi no Manako" ("Account of Moon Shadow Ninjas: 21 Eyes"
the same year, encouraged Toei Film Production into doing an entire
film series about Yamada novels until 1969, firstly in B/W and
CinemaScope.
In 1964, Toei started the "Kunoichi" film series, with female ninjas, and this was be the key to its success. At the beginning of the 1980s, Toei produced two films more Samurai Reincarnation (1981) ("Samurai Reincarnation") and Death of a Ninja (1982) ("Iga Magic Story"), which centered on the fantastic side of Yamada ninja novels. Yamada wrote his last novel, "The Death of Jûbei Yagyu" in 1991, but his popularity did not weaken. From 1991 to 1998 "Kunoichi" and "Makai Tensho" were converted into two original video series. And again, two films were produced based on these stories in 1998 and 2003, respectively.
In 1964, Toei started the "Kunoichi" film series, with female ninjas, and this was be the key to its success. At the beginning of the 1980s, Toei produced two films more Samurai Reincarnation (1981) ("Samurai Reincarnation") and Death of a Ninja (1982) ("Iga Magic Story"), which centered on the fantastic side of Yamada ninja novels. Yamada wrote his last novel, "The Death of Jûbei Yagyu" in 1991, but his popularity did not weaken. From 1991 to 1998 "Kunoichi" and "Makai Tensho" were converted into two original video series. And again, two films were produced based on these stories in 1998 and 2003, respectively.
