Jiraiya's forehead protector

[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 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[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,

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? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[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]

[quote]
Originally posted by: animemaster
according to this webpage,

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 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 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[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/enjutsuk...tabiboots.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 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[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 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[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

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

We sure are *into* this anime... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
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.