Ninja Sentai Kakuranger - Tumblr Posts
Over 20 years before StarNinger/Kinji brought us the delightful antics of an American Cowboy Ninja in Shuiken Sentai NinNinger, there was another American Ninja Cowboy. Jiraiya/Ninja Black from Ninja Sentai KakuRanger arrived on rollerblades wearing chaps, six shooters, a bandanna and a cowboy hat.
However, unlike Kinji (who is played by a native-born Japanese actor named Hideya Tawada (多和田 秀弥), Jiraiya is played by second-generation Japanese American actor Kane Kosugi. The difference is pretty clear when the two attempt to speak English. While Kinji’s English is heavily accented and rarely used, Jiraiya at first didn’t speak much Japanese at all in his early appearances and his English was perfect. This is because he was born and raised in Los Angeles California.
His Father is Japanese immigrant and martial arts star Sho Kosugi, who made a name for himself playing Ninja in 1980s Ninja action movies from Cannon Films.
He played the villain in 1981′s Enter the Ninja and then the hero in the two loosely-connected follow-ups “Revenge of the Ninja” and “Ninja III: The Domination”. In fact, in the screenshot below, you can see a 9 year old Kane Kosugi playing the on-screen son of his Father’s character in the second film of that loose trilogy.
Sho Kosugi was an All Japan Karate Champion specializing in Shindō jinen-ryū Karate. He was also versed in Aikido, Kendo, Judo and Ninjutsu. He trained his son in the Martial Arts as well, which explains why the fight scenes involving Jiraiya in KakuRanger are some of the best.
The elder Kosugi even guest starred in two episodes of KakuRanger (28 & 29), playing the villainous martial artist Gali who ended up fighting against Jiraiya. These are some of the best one on one fights of the entire series and a massive highlight of the season.
After KakuRanger, Kane Kosugi went on to become something of a figure in Japanese film, appearing (or starring) in over a dozen films including “Godzilla: Final Wars” and the upcoming live-action version of the popular manga and anime series “Terra Formars”. This makes him one of the more successful foreign-born Japanese actors currently working in film. He is also best friends with Sammy Hung, the son of Hong Kong martial arts star Sammo Hung.
Edit: Thanks to vbartilucci for the reminder that Kane Kosugi also went on to play Kenichi Kai in Ultraman Powered, a.k.a. Ultraman the Ultimate Hero. I can’t believe I forgot that!