Tenjiku Tokubei

The first film depiction of the Tenjiko Tokubei, an exotic adventurer, and the protagonist of Tsuruya Nambobu IV's first big kabuki success, Tenjiku Tokubei Ikoku-Banashi (1804). Based on a real-life navigator, the play was remarkable for its heavy emphasis on the supernatural, conveyed through spectacular special effects: a famous highlight is the entrance of Tokubei astride a giant, poison gas-breathing toad, brandishing a man's severed head.