Hashimoto-san is a fictional Japanese mouse created by the Japanese-born animator

Bob Kuwahara Rokuro "Bob" Kuwahara (August 12, 1901 – 1964) was a Japanese-born American animator best known for his work with Walt Disney and Terrytoons between the 1930s and 1960s. Kuwahara was born in Tokyo on August 12, 1901, and his family moved to the U ...

and Eli Bauer for the

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

animation company. Hashimoto is a judo instructor living in Japan with his wife Hanako, son Saburo, and daughter Yuriko. The first cartoon in the series, ''Hashimoto-san'', was a seven-minute short released theatrically on September 6, 1959. Fourteen cartoons were produced, ending with ''Spooky-Yaki,'' which was released on November 13, 1963. Hashimoto is an expert in

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and the

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

arts, but never used his skills to harm anyone. He also frequently told stories about Japan to an American reporter named

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

aka Joey or Joey-San. Hashimoto and the other characters in the series were voiced by

John Myhers John Benjamin Myhers (December 18, 1921 – May 27, 1992) was an American stage and screen actor. His film roles included playing Mr. Bratt in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (1967 ...

. All of the shorts were directed by Kuwahara. Bob Kuwahara had an intimate knowledge of Hashimoto's culture through his own family ties.Hashimoto-san
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on March 8, 2015. Between 1963 and 1965 the shorts were incorporated into ''

The Hector Heathcote Show Hector Heathcote is a Terrytoons animated cartoon character. Created by Eli Bauer and Ralph Bakshi, he first appeared on July 18, 1959, in ''The Minute and a Half Man.'' He was voiced by John Myhers. Terrytoons created the character for television ...

'' as part of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's Saturday morning cartoon lineup. During the mid-1960s Hashimoto had his own

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

, and also appeared in a handful of comic books published by

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

; always with other Terrytoon characters like

Deputy Dawg Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character, featured on the animated television series of the same name that aired from 1960 to 1964. Background The character of Deputy Dawg originated in 1959 as part of a projected series entitled ''Possible ...

Hector Heathcote Hector Heathcote is a Terrytoons animated cartoon character. Created by Eli Bauer and Ralph Bakshi, he first appeared on July 18, 1959, in '' The Minute and a Half Man.'' He was voiced by John Myhers. Terrytoons created the character for televisi ...

. Some episodes contained scenes whose artwork reflected Japan's traditional

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk t ...

woodblock prints. To date the ''Hashimoto-san'' series has not been released on DVD, though a bootleg DVD is available containing 12 of the 14 episodes.

Filmography

Fourteen cartoons were produced between 1959 and 1963, directed by

Dave Tendlar David Benjamin Tendlar (August 8, 1909 – September 9, 1993) was an American animator, best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios. Tendlar was born in Dayton, Ohio on August 8, 1909. He joined Fleische ...

Connie Rasinski J. Conrad "Connie" Rasinski (January 28, 1907 in Torrington, Connecticut – October 13, 1965 in Larchmont, New York) was an animation director who did the 1952 animated short "Hansel and Gretel" among others. Rasinski's "House of Hashimoto" was ...

, Mannie Davis and Art Bartsch. * ''Hashimoto-San'' (Sept 6, 1959) - Kuwahara & Tendlar * ''House of Hashimoto'' (Nov 30, 1960) - Rasinski * ''Night Life in Tokyo'' (Feb 1961) - Davis * ''So Sorry, Pussycat'' (March 1961) - Bartsch * ''Son of Hashimoto'' (April 12, 1961) - Rasinski * ''Strange Companion'' (May 12, 1961) - Davis * ''Honorable Cat Story'' (Nov 1961) - Rasinski * ''Honorable Family Problem'' (March 30, 1962) - Kuwahara * ''Loyal Royalty'' (May 18, 1962) - Kuwahara * ''Honorable Pain in the Neck'' (Aug 22, 1962) - Kuwahara * ''Tea House Mouse'' (Jan 1963) - Kuwahara * ''Pearl Crazy'' (May 1963) - Kuwahara * ''Cherry Blossom Festival'' (June 17, 1963) - Kuwahara * ''Spooky-Yaki'' (Nov 13, 1963) - Kuwahara

References

Terrytoons characters Fictional mice and rats Fictional judoka Fictional Japanese people Film characters introduced in 1959 Male characters in animation Animated characters introduced in 1959 Japan in non-Japanese culture {{Animation-char-stub