Key Hunter
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Key Hunter (キイハンター, Kī Hantā) is a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) network from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 episodes,[1] and it was one of the most popular action dramas in Japan at the time.[2]
The story involved "Key Hunter", a special clandestine unit of the International Police, which endeavored to solve various crimes.
Key Hunter was a unique TV show, which started out as a grand scale spy thriller never before seen in Japan. The episodes were individually themed on global crimes and political strife. The initial hardboiled theme later evolved to include intellectual elements involving action, and occasionally with comical elements as well.
Tetsuro Tamba starred in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice as Japanese Secret Service agent Tiger Tanaka, an ally of James Bond. This role greatly influenced his image in Key Hunter.
Characters[]
Key Hunter[]
- Tetsuya Kuroki (黒木 鉄也, Kuroki Tetsuya) — played by Tetsuro Tamba
- ex-intelligence agent
- Keiko Tsugawa (津川 啓子, Tsugawa Keiko) — played by Yōko Nogiwa[3]
- ex-intelligence agent
- Ichirō Fubuki (吹雪 一郎, Fubuki Ichirō) — played by Hiroshi Kawaguchi (since episode #60)
- ex-FBI agent
- Tatsuhiko Shima (島 竜彦, Shima Tatsuhiko) — played by Hayato Tani
- power freak
- Yumi Taniguchi (谷口 ユミ, Taniguchi Yumi) — played by
- memory expert & genius
- Yuji Taki (滝 祐二, Taki Yuji) — played by Masaya Oki (since episode #210)
- Yōsuke Kazama (風間 洋介, Kazama Yōsuke) — played by Sonny Chiba[4] —
- ex-newspaper reporter
International Police[]
- Muraoka (村岡 特別室長, Muraoka Tokubetsu Shitsuchō) — played by (appeared very rarely)
- Chief of the Special Task Forces
- Shinji Odagiri (小田切 慎二, Odagiri Shinji) — played by (since episode #104)
- Shunsuke Dan (壇 俊介, Dan Shunsuke) — played by Hiroshi Miyauchi (since episode #92)
Theme music[]
The theme song "Hijō no License" was written by Shunsuke Kikuchi, played as an instrumental for the opening theme, and sung by Yōko Nogiwa for the ending theme.
References[]
- ^ "キーハンターとは". kotobank. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ "キーハンター". 東映. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ "女優の野際陽子さん死去 81歳、「キイハンター」「ずっとあなたが好きだった」「TRICK」". sankibiz. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ "千葉真一 キーハンターを映画化構想!". デイリー. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
External links[]
- DVD Selection from Toei
- Key Hunter at IMDb
- KeyHunter, at Beyond Japan Hero
- 1968 Japanese television series debuts
- 1973 Japanese television series endings
- Japanese drama television series
- Shunsuke Kikuchi
- Detective television series
- Tokyo Broadcasting System Television dramas
- Japanese detective television drama series