Tōyama no Kin-san

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tōyama no Kin-san" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Tōyama no Kin-san (遠山の金さん) is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history.^[1] In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened to Kin-san. He was said to have left home as a young man, and lived among the commoners, even having a tattoo of flowering sakura trees on his shoulder. This story developed into a legend of helping the common people.

The novelist Tatsurō Jinde (陣出達郎) wrote a series of books about Kin-san. Noted actor Chiezō Kataoka starred^[2] in a series of eighteen Toei jidaigeki films about him. Several Japanese television networks have aired series based on the character. These variously portrayed him pretending to be a petty hood or a yojinbō while solving crimes as the chief of police.

People famous for having portrayed Kin-san on television include kabuki stars Nakamura Umenosuke IV and Ichikawa Danshirō, singers Yukio Hashi and Teruhiko Saigō,^[3] and actors Ryōtarō Sugi, Hideki Takahashi,^[4] Hiroki Matsukata,^[5] and Kōtarō Satomi.^[6] Saigō and Satomi portrayed Kin-san in the series Edo o Kiru.

Eighteen films from Toei starred Chiezō Kataoka:

• The Tattooed Magistrate: Cherry Blossoms Dance Volume (いれずみ判官　桜花乱舞の巻) (1950)
• The Tattooed Magistrate: Fallen Flowers Showdown Volume (いれずみ判官　落花対決の巻) (1950)
• The Official and the Princess of Thieves (女賊と判官) (1951)
• The Well-known Magistrate (お馴染み判官　あばれ神輿) (1951)
• The Jumping Magistrate (飛びっちょ判官) (1952)
• The Bloody Cherry Blossom Magistrate (血ざくら判官) (1954)
• A Gang of Five (勢ぞろい喧嘩若衆) (1955)
• The Fighting Magistrate (喧嘩奉行) (1955)
• The Roar of The Lion (荒獅子判官) (1955)
• Short Sword Magistrate (長脇差奉行) (1956)
• Pirates Magistrate (海賊奉行) (1957)
• Falcon Magistrate (はやぶさ奉行) (1957)
• Fireball Magistrate (火の玉奉行) (1958)
• Whirlwind Magistrate (たつまき奉行) (1959)
• The Edo Official and the Apprentice (江戸っ子判官とふり袖小僧) (1959)
• The Official with a Tattoo (御存じいれずみ判官) (1960)
• The Magistrate of Chess (さいころ奉行) (1961)
• Sakura Official (さくら判官) (1962)

• Tōyama no Kin-san Torimono Chō starring Shunji Natsume on Fuji Television
• Tōyama no Kin-san starring Ebizō Ichikawa on Nippon Television
• Tōyama no Kin-san Torimono Chō starring Nakamura Umenosuke IV on TV Asahi (NET)
• Gozonji Tōyama no Kin-san starring Ichikawa Danshirō on TV Asahi (NET)
• Gozonji Kin-san no Torimono Chō starring Yukio Hashi on TV Asahi (NET)
• Tōyama no Kin-san on NET, renamed TV Asahi
  • starring Ryōtarō Sugi from 1975 to 1979 (Sugi also sang the theme song)
  • starring Hideki Takahashi from 1982 to 1986
• Meibugyō Tōyama no Kin-san starring Hiroki Matsukata on TV Asahi
  • Cast included (at various times) Ryōko Sakaguchi, Kimiko Ikegami, Keiko Saitō, Casey Takamine, Tetsuo Ishidate, Kazuo Nakamura, Gō Wakabayashi
• Edo o Kiru starring Teruhiko Saigō and later Kotarō Satomi on TBS, 1975 to 1994
• Tōyama no Kin-san on TV Asahi starring Ken Matsudaira, beginning in January, 2007
• Oh Edo Rocket (anime) featured Toyama as a continuing minor character