Jiraiya's forehead protector

[lasaire]

Ever wonder why Jiraiya's forehead protector doesn't have the Leaf on it, but instead the character for 'abura' or oil? Could this be a reference to Gamabunta's Toad Oil Cannon attack?

Jiraiya's forehead protector (http://www.endless-hosting.com/~narutok/gallery/Screenshots/tonen.php?img=(Naruto-kun.Com)52-016.jpg&dir=Jiraiya&pprev=1&num=5&met=1)

[PSJ]

i have no idea, all i know is that he consider himself a writer and not a leaf ninja. the fore head protector thingy is a mystery, especially that 'abura' sign

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Oil...yeah, quite intriguing... is it because he's slicky???
Also, could that be a reference to Spirited Away's bathhouse ? That's the kanji in front of it... I can't find no relation and all, but who the hell knows?

[lionheart1012000]

more like slicky hands

[itachi_]

He's a missing-nin however not a evil one like Itachi, he abandoned the village without telling the hokage where he left, that's one of the demands for getting the title of a missing-nin

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Huh... I still don't get the difference between sannin/sennin.
AFAIK, however, Sennin is some sort of wise hermit. If it's the case, maybe he just left to be an hermit so it wouldn't be a big deal if he left the village...
I think missing-nin are more like people out-of-control, like the Uchiha bros. who may be dangerous to the village security, since they know secrets and secret jutsus that shouldn't fall in the hands of other village's ninjas.
Jiraya doesn't seem to be of the kind that would betray the leaf.

[chaos4ever4]

he's a delinquent. he probably defaced the konaha symbol to his own amusement

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Huh, since spoilers are allowed here, remember what he said to Tsunande???? I think he is more of a Shikamaru type, doesn't want trouble, but will get the job done if needed.
And he does go to a lot of trouble to train Naruto.

[Gods_Son]

I don't think we're supposed to read too much into it. I'd have to agree with lionheart on this one and say the only significance of the oil would probably be sticky fingers or somethin like that.

[raijin]

Jiraiya is not a missing nin; he did not abandon the Hidden Leaf Village. If you remember, he left the village to basically keep tabs on Orochimaru, since he knew Oro would cause trouble. A missing nin is considered a criminal, who has performed atrocities against their village or country.

As for the kanji "abura", it does mean oil. From what I know and heard, it's somewhat of a pun/joke describing Jiraiya's personality. It's trying to say that Jiraiya is a "sleazy/greasy/oily" person, basically acknowledging that he's a lewd person or pervert.

If you notice that one of his summoned frogs has the kanji "chuu" on one of its necklace beads. Chuu stands for loyalty, sort of the opposite of abura.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

I said he was slicky...
The kanji can be also read as yu besides abura, meaning oil.
I misread the post at first, sorry...

[lasaire]

Huh... I still don't get the difference between sannin/sennin.

The important part is the 'san' vs. 'sen' part. Nin/jin just means person or ninja, you'll notice all the ninja rank titles end with it.

'San' means three; when it refers to Jiraiya it means one of the Three Legendary Ninja's, i.e. one of his original team of 3, being Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya himself.

'Sennin' means hermit or sage; a rank of ninja even higher than jounin.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Thanksi/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif
Yeah, nin/jin/hito... I was wondering about that, too.
Freaking language that of them.
How about jutsu/ryuu and do? No, don't answer...
I *won't* learn more Japanese than I need. I will go insane. Well, maybe that wouldn't make much of a diff...

[Assertn]

i remember this discussion before......
yes it means something like "oil", which can be connected to the fact that he hangs around frogs (which can be oily, i suppose), as well as a reference to him being an "oily man".....which i think in China is similiar to being a pervert

[Haku no Fuyu]

The head protector he wears (as well as his costume and mannerisms) are all from the Kabuki play. Right down to the Geta.

[Raven]

Originally posted by: lasaire


Huh... I still don't get the difference between sannin/sennin.
'Sennin' means hermit or sage; a rank of ninja even higher than jounin.
I'm pretty sure it's not a rank....

I believe that Jounin is the highest you can go (apart from Hokage) and Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade are still technically officially Jounin level.

Well not Tsunade obviously, she's the 5th. And not Oro, because he's part of the Sound now and they don't seem to have ranks yet. And Jiraiya doesn't really hang around Konoha anymore so I guess he doesn't count either.

Ok, let's just say that hypothetically, if the three of them lived in Konoha they'd still officially be Jounin. Sennin isn't a rank officially. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[jonny-mt]

The use of 'oil' in Spirited Away is meant to be a sort of joke, right? Lemme see if I can explain....

Usually, when you go into a smaller public bath, there is a blue curtain with a hiragana 'yu' on it. I'm not sure what this means, but it's there...I suspect it stands for 'hot water', which is 'oyu' or simply 'yu' once you drop the honorific 'o'. Now, as someone pointed out, another reading for 'abura' is 'yu'. And the name of the witch in Spirited Away was Yubaba, right? 'Baba' means 'hag', so the 'yu' here was part of her name ('baba' has another seperate kanji). Or, if you'll look at the Amazon.co.jp (http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005S8LI/250-3127972-1585829) page for the DVD, you see that the name of the town it takes place in is "yuya"...and guess what the kanji for the 'yu' are?

I'm guessing that the kanji does have a standard association with hot springs, probably referring to the oil used to heat them. And, of course, Jiraiya is a pervert who loves peeking in hot springs, right? In fact, the first place we see him is at the hot spring where Naruto is training. Hmm...seems like too much to be coincidence to me....

[Haku no Fuyu]

*Want his bathhouse back*

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

True, he seem to be always around hot water/bathhouses/nekkid people...
Huh, was the *real* Jiraya like that, too?
I will watch Spirited Away again, who knows, he might have made a cameo there...

[Evil_Sasuke]

I really dont care for Jaraiya's forehead protector but i love the shoe/slipper things! What are they called? Especially when he does his "violent" dance i thought was funny

[lasaire]

They're called geta, they're traditional wooden sandals, and they can be found online if you want a pair. I myself bought a pair about a year before naruto even came out. They are now dubbed my 'Jiraiya shoes.'

Sennin isn't really an official rank, but since Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru are so high in rank, it seems to be used as a non-official way to designate them as being considerably higher in ability than the average jounin. It really mostly means 'sage.'

I don't think that there's necessarily any connection to Spirited Away, besides the use of the same word. Jiraiya does not appear in the story.

I believe that Haku no Fuyu's answer is most likely the correct one:



The head protector he wears (as well as his costume and mannerisms) are all from the Kabuki play. Right down to the Geta.

Jiraiya is actually a character borrowed from traditional Japanese folklore, who was then made into the hero of a traditional Kabuki play.

[Assertn]

well, its been discussed a few times.....but sennin isnt anything about rank.....it just means "wise hermit"
"sannin" on the other hand, are what the legendary 3 ninjas are referred to as
therefore jiraiya is a "sennin sannin".....there IS a difference i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif

[lasaire]

Well, if you want to get technical, Jiraiya would be:

"sannin no sennin" : the wise hermit/sage (same difference) OF THE ('no') sannin (Three Ninjas, meaning Tsu,Hir, Oro)

[Jman]

according to this webpage (http://llamakillers.sunset.net/paradise/),



The Kanji on êe_ (Jiraiya)s forehead is ¹ Abura, meaning oil.
Its not because hes oily middle age man. Its because hes fÇÙº (Gama Sennin).
In Japan, fÇn¹ (Gama no Abura, oil of a toad) was used as medicine. Dont ask me if it was really oil of a toad. But it was supposed to be a good medicine for scratches, cuts and other things.

sidenote: the japanese symbols may look like squiggles or wierd items, may have somethin to do with japanse support not being enabled. i'm no expert on that stuff.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

BTW, it's a great website. One can learn a lot there. She explains lots of things and that makes watching the anime even more pleasant...

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

[quote]
Originally posted by: lasaire
They're called geta, they're traditional wooden sandals, and they can be found online if you want a pair. I myself bought a pair about a year before naruto even came out. They are now dubbed my 'Jiraiya shoes.'

Can you drive with them? i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif

[Jman]

Originally posted by: Neji-Aniki-sama
BTW, it's a great website. One can learn a lot there. She explains lots of things and that makes watching the anime even more pleasant...

Yes, the owner has interesting explanations especially within her section for the meaning of the character names.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Originally posted by: animemaster
according to this webpage (http://llamakillers.sunset.net/paradise/),

[quote]
The Kanji on êe_ (Jiraiya)s forehead is ¹ Abura, meaning oil.
Its not because hes oily middle age man. Its because hes fÇÙº (Gama Sennin).
In Japan, fÇn¹ (Gama no Abura, oil of a toad) was used as medicine. Dont ask me if it was really oil of a toad. But it was supposed to be a good medicine for scratches, cuts and other things.


Ok, I may start to sound pushy, but I just remembered that there are tons of frogs in Spirited Away. Frog statues and the male workers are frogs. And also the women workers are slugs (Tsunade slug magic).
I don't think Naruto's Jiraiya has a *direct* relation with that movie, I said that more like kidding...but
makes sense that both in the movie and in Jiraiya, there's this idea of frog magic/cure and likely this is also related to bathhouses, since baths also have a healing function...
In any case, both Jiraya and the background set up of SA, apparently come from the same Japanese mythological source.
Ok, won't say *anything* more about Spirited Away.

[lasaire]

Can you drive with them?

Haha, Neji-nii-san, no I can't, but I drive standard, so any kind of wierd shoes generally makes it hard. I usually wear my geta with the split toed tabi socks and kick the geta off to drive.

I'm certainly not disagreeing with any similarities between Jiraiya's story and Spirited Away, in fact I got started on this topic when I watched SA for the gazillionth time and made the kanji connection.

I think, though, that the similarity is mostly due to the fact that they are both drawn heavily from the same mythological source, being traditional Japanese fairy-tales, so in that, I certainly agree with you.

[Haku no Fuyu]

Lasaire, HOW CAN YOU WEAR GETA?!
I find the very uncomfortable, even with the Tabi.
Are yours rope or cord?
Mine are rope, so thats probably why...

[lasaire]

My hanao are padded velvet, actually. And the wooden teeth actually have small rubber pads on the bottom that both soften that clop-clop noise that gives geta their name and allow for more grip on the floor.

Akai-hanao-no-jojo (http://www.karankoron.com/online_shop_top.html) Here's the link to the site where I got them. I just have the plain women's paulownia wood two-teeth kind. I want a pair of black laquer ones in the ukon style.

[Haku no Fuyu]

PADDED.....lucky you...
I must order some. Thanks for the site.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

I want Ninja boots. They're so cool, hope they're durable also...
Guess I opened a can of footwear here, but tabis rule... my next project is getas *and* ninja boots i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif

[lasaire]

Yep, there definately needs to be a vendor who sells those cool shoes that Naruto-tachi wear.

There are cosplay vendors in Japan who sell headbands, chuunin vests and Team 7 costumes, but I have yet to find the shoes.

[Gods_Son]

yeah, the shoes seem pretty comfortable

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Originally posted by: lasaire
Yep, there definately needs to be a vendor who sells those cool shoes that Naruto-tachi wear.

There are cosplay vendors in Japan who sell headbands, chuunin vests and Team 7 costumes, but I have yet to find the shoes.

Oh, the ninja boots I've seen are more like black tabis that go up to the calf with a rubber sole...
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/enjutsukai/ninjatabiboots.html
I'd love to go out in a konoha forehead protector...huh, maybe I could wear it discretly around the neck.
wonder if it would be ok to wear it during kyudo pratice, yanno, to keep the hair in place and all i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif

[Gods_Son]

The Naruto shoes don't look like the typical ninja boots though, I think they look more like sandals. Watch an ep again and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

Huh, I kinda know how the shoes look like in Naruto.
I was explaining what I meant by Ninja boots when I mentioned them. I'd guess one can buy a pair of blue snickers and cut the front, that might do as Naruto shoewear i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif

[lasaire]

Yeah, I meant that I wanted a pair of the sandal-boots we see in the anime, not the traditional black ninja shoes.

One vendor of traditional ninja-esque gear (http://www.gungfu.com/cart-htm/apparel_other_uniforms_gear_ninja-wear.htm)

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

We sure are *into* this anime... i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif
But I think I will never know if the real ninjas had all those powers they show there. The only story I've heard is, during WWII there was something like half a dozen American platoons in an island, and they sent one ninja there. In the morning, nobody was found alive. How did he do it wasn't mentioned, though. Again, something I've heard, not a fact.

[Haku no Fuyu]

Weird...

[Mut]

Originally posted by: CmDr_RavEn


Originally posted by: lasaire


Huh... I still don't get the difference between sannin/sennin.
'Sennin' means hermit or sage; a rank of ninja even higher than jounin.
I'm pretty sure it's not a rank....

I believe that Jounin is the highest you can go (apart from Hokage) and Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade are still technically officially Jounin level.

Well not Tsunade obviously, she's the 5th. And not Oro, because he's part of the Sound now and they don't seem to have ranks yet. And Jiraiya doesn't really hang around Konoha anymore so I guess he doesn't count either.

Ok, let's just say that hypothetically, if the three of them lived in Konoha they'd still officially be Jounin. Sennin isn't a rank officially. Correct me if I'm wrong.

sennin is not an official ninja rank, sir.

[Haku no Fuyu]

It's just a title. Do you see any more sennin running around Konoha? Have any Sennin teams been dispatched or even MENTIONED?!!!
-
-
Conclusion: not a real rank.

[lasaire]

But I think I will never know if the real ninjas had all those powers they show there. The only story I've heard is, during WWII there was something like half a dozen American platoons in an island, and they sent one ninja there. In the morning, nobody was found alive. How did he do it wasn't mentioned, though. Again, something I've heard, not a fact.

Wow, I never heard this story!

Secondly, yes, we all agree that sennin isn't an official rank. If you'll look back you'll notice it just seems to be a way to designate the fact that Tsu, Jir, and Oro are much stronger than the average jounin like Raido or Genma, without actually giving them a real rank.