Yaiba Appears

This article is about the first chapter of the [Yaiba](/wiki/Yaiba "Yaiba") manga. For the [Yaiba: Samurai Legend](/wiki/Yaiba:_Samurai_Legend "Yaiba: Samurai Legend") episode with the same name, see [Yaiba Appears (Yaiba: Samurai Legend episode)](/wiki/Yaiba_Appears_(Yaiba:_Samurai_Legend_episode) "Yaiba Appears (Yaiba: Samurai Legend episode)")
--- | --- |
| N/A | [**List of Chapters**](/wiki/Yaiba#Chapters "Yaiba") | [You'll Be Taking Care of Me](/wiki/You%27ll_Be_Taking_Care_of_Me "You'll Be Taking Care of Me")  › |
|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| ***Yaiba* Chapter 1** | |
|  | |
| **Information** | |
| Title: | Yaiba Appears |
| Japanese title: | YAIBA見参   (YAIBA Kenzan) |
| Original release: | August 24th, 1988 |
| Shōnen Sunday issue: | #39/1988 |
| Volume: | (/wiki/Yaiba_Volume_1 "Yaiba Volume 1") |
| Pages: | 22 |
| Anime adaptation: | Episode 1: [Heisei's Samurai Yaiba Appears](/wiki/Heisei%27s_Samurai_Yaiba_Appears "Heisei's Samurai Yaiba Appears") |
| **Viz Media version** | |
| English title: | Yaiba Appears |
| English release: | March 20, 2025 (simulpub)[](#cite_note-1)   July 8, 2025 (volume 1)[](#cite_note-2) |
**Yaiba Appears (YAIBA見参 ,*YAIBA Kenzan*[?](/wiki/Help:Japanese "Help:Japanese"))** is the very first chapter of the [manga](/wiki/Yaiba#Chapters "Yaiba") of *[Yaiba](/wiki/Yaiba "Yaiba")*. It was written by [Gosho Aoyama](/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama "Gosho Aoyama") and drawn by him and his [assistants](/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama%27s_assistants "Gosho Aoyama's assistants") and first released in [Shōnen Sunday](/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dnen_Sunday "Shōnen Sunday") #39/1988 on August 24th, 1988 and later on reprinted as the first chapter of [volume 1](/wiki/Yaiba_Volume_1 "Yaiba Volume 1") on April 18th, 1989. It depicts the rather involuntary arrival of [Yaiba Kurogane](/wiki/Yaiba_Kurogane "Yaiba Kurogane"), a [feral child](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_child "wikipedia:Feral child") raised in the jungle, in the [Tokyo Metropolis](/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolis "Tokyo Metropolis") and his initial difficulties in finding his place in a modern society.
## Contents
* [1 Characters](#Characters)
+ [1.1 Introduced](#Introduced)
* [2 Settings](#Settings)
+ [2.1 Introduced](#Introduced_2)
* [3 Plot](#Plot)
* [4 Continuity](#Continuity)
+ [4.1 Referenced in](#Referenced_in)
* [5 Real Life Models](#Real_Life_Models)
+ [5.1 Narita Airport](#Narita_Airport)
+ [5.2 Yaiba's jungle](#Yaiba.27s_jungle)
* [6 Trivia](#Trivia)
* [7 Adaptations](#Adaptations)
* [8 See also](#See_also)
* [9 References](#References)
## Characters[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Characters")]
Main article: [Yaiba characters](/wiki/Yaiba_characters "Yaiba characters")
### Introduced[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Introduced")]
- | [Yaiba Kurogane](/wiki/Yaiba_Kurogane "Yaiba Kurogane") | |
| --- | --- |
|  | * 14 years old[](#cite_note-yaiba_age-3) * Samurai/Kendoka |
- | [Kenjuro Kurogane](/wiki/Kenjuro_Kurogane "Kenjuro Kurogane") | |
| --- | --- |
|  | * Samurai/Kendoka * Yaiba's father * Raizo's old rival |
- | [Currently unnamed tiger](/wiki/Kagetora "Kagetora") | |
| --- | --- |
|  | * Yaiba's pet |
- | [Sayaka Mine](/wiki/Sayaka_Mine "Sayaka Mine") | |
| --- | --- |
|  | * 14 years old * Middle school student |
- | [Raizo Mine](/wiki/Raizo_Mine "Raizo Mine") | |
| --- | --- |
|  | * Professional kendoka * Sayaka's father |
## Settings[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Settings")]
Main article: [Setting](/wiki/Setting "Setting")
### Introduced[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=4 "Edit section: Introduced")]
* [Jungle (Yaiba)](/wiki/index.php?title=Jungle_(Yaiba)&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jungle (Yaiba) (page does not exist)")
* [Tokyo](/wiki/Tokyo "Tokyo")
+ [Narita Airport](/wiki/index.php?title=Narita_Airport&action=edit&redlink=1 "Narita Airport (page does not exist)")
+ [Bali](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali "wikipedia:Bali") (Mentioned on a flag)
+ [Mine residence](/wiki/Mine_residence "Mine residence") (Mentioned)
Yaiba, Kenjuro and the tiger hide from the gorillas in a wooden crate.
## Plot[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: Plot")]
The 14-year-old[](#cite_note-yaiba_age-3) [feral child](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_child "wikipedia:Feral child") [Yaiba Kurogane](/wiki/Yaiba_Kurogane "Yaiba Kurogane"), who was raised by his father [Kenjuro Kurogane](/wiki/Kenjuro_Kurogane "Kenjuro Kurogane") in [a jungle](/wiki/index.php?title=Jungle_(Yaiba)&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jungle (Yaiba) (page does not exist)") and trained in the art of survival and swordsmanship, hungrily waits for his old man to finish cooking their next meal. The father throws off his son's wish by stating that patience is also a part of training. Shortly after this lesson, both of them are attacked by a gorilla. Yaiba felt the approaching animal by meditation and focus, enabling him to defeat it with just one blow of his kendō sword made of bamboo. Yaiba and his father roast the dead gorilla over a bonfire and eat it, which Kenjuro declares is the "law of nature".
Sayaka meets her father Raizo at the airport.
But the next uninvited guests are already approaching: [a tiger](/wiki/Kagetora "Kagetora") notices the tasty prey of the duo and wants to snatch it for himself. But after it dives in and unluckily misses its target, the father and son to decide to eat the tiger too. But before they can, the relatives of the eaten gorilla have located the killers of their family member and now want to take revenge. Kenjuro and Yaiba flee on the back of the tiger and hide in a wooden box. Just as Yaiba dreams about being awash with food one day, the box is filled with a bunch of pineapples, and the lid gets closed with all three of them still inside the crate. The package gets loaded onto an airplane, which has been scheduled to fly to [Narita Airport](/wiki/index.php?title=Narita_Airport&action=edit&redlink=1 "Narita Airport (page does not exist)") in the [Tokyo Metropolitan Area](/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolis "Tokyo Metropolis"), [Japan](/wiki/Japan "Japan").
The group flees from the patrol cars in a taxi.
Parallel to their arrival, the middle school student [Sayaka Mine](/wiki/Sayaka_Mine "Sayaka Mine") comes to meet her father, [Raizo Mine](/wiki/Raizo_Mine "Raizo Mine"), who has just returned from a kendo tournament on the Asian mainland. Sayaka congratulates him for his victory, but Raizo refuses the compliment, saying that he can never feel like a true winner until he has beaten his old rival—who happens to be Kenjuro Kurogane. As chance would have it, he is just tumbling out of the wooden box at the same airport together with his son and the tiger. An airport police unit sets out to arrest the trio, but Yaiba sets the tiger to attack the officers to buy some time and uses the flag of a tourist group as an improvised kendo sword against them. Just as he is about to hit Raizo from behind, Sayaka stands in his way, who asks him his name. He realizes that Sayaka is something he has never seen before: a girl. To her visible shock, he checks out her entire body and takes a look under her skirt, which she counters by clobbering him with her umbrella.
Meanwhile, Raizo recognizes his old rival in Yaiba's father, but before he can challenge him, he is grabbed by Kenjuro and dragged into a taxi with Yaiba, Sayaka, and the tiger followign them. Kenjuro tells the taxi driver to drive all the passengers to the [Mine residence](/wiki/Mine_residence "Mine residence"), while a squadron of patrol cars follows them. Yaiba notices this, climbs up onto the roof of the car and prompts the cops to battle him. Sayaka is left confused at who this strange trio may be...
## Continuity[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=6 "Edit section: Continuity")]
Main article: [Continuity](/wiki/Continuity "Continuity")
* [Sayaka Mine](/wiki/Sayaka_Mine "Sayaka Mine") wears a Summer school uniform (June 1st-September 30th)
* Start of the series' plot and of what the fandom calls the "[Yaiba Arc](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Arc&action=edit&redlink=1 "Yaiba Arc (page does not exist)")" (Manga: Chapters 1-5, Anime: Episode 1)
### Referenced in[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=7 "Edit section: Referenced in")]
* **You'll Be Taking Care of Me (Yaiba Manga: (/wiki/Yaiba_Volume_1#You.27ll_Be_Taking_Care_of_Me "Yaiba Volume 1")):** The next chapter is a direct continuation of this one and is still set on the same day.
* **What's "School"? (Yaiba Manga: (/wiki/Yaiba_Volume_1#What.27s_.22School.22.3F "Yaiba Volume 1")) :** [Yaiba Kurogane](/wiki/Yaiba_Kurogane "Yaiba Kurogane") tries to sense [Mr. Sudo](/wiki/index.php?title=Mr._Sudo&action=edit&redlink=1 "Mr. Sudo (page does not exist)") the same way he learned to sense animals in the [jungle](/wiki/index.php?title=Jungle_(Yaiba)&action=edit&redlink=1 "Jungle (Yaiba) (page does not exist)") and like he did with the gorilla at the beginning of this chapter.
## Real Life Models[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=8 "Edit section: Real Life Models")]
Main article: [Setting models (Yaiba)](/wiki/Setting_models_(Yaiba) "Setting models (Yaiba)")
### Narita Airport[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=9 "Edit section: Narita Airport")]
The airport Yaiba, his father [Kenjuro Kurogane](/wiki/Kenjuro_Kurogane "Kenjuro Kurogane") and their pet tiger Kategora arrive at is the real [Narita International Airport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narita_International_Airport "wikipedia:Narita International Airport") on the border between the towns of [Narita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narita,_Chiba "wikipedia:Narita, Chiba") and [Shibayama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibayama,_Chiba "wikipedia:Shibayama, Chiba") in the [Chiba Prefecture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiba_Prefecture "wikipedia:Chiba Prefecture"), which is part of the [Greater Tokyo Area](/wiki/Greater_Tokyo_Area "Greater Tokyo Area"). It was the biggest and most important airport serving Tokyo back then, before it was replaced in this function by [Haneda Airport](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haneda_Airport "wikipedia:Haneda Airport"). They would also have to arrive in what is [Terminal 1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narita_International_Airport#Terminal_1 "wikipedia:Narita International Airport") nowadays, since Terminal 2 and 3 opened in 1992 and 2015 respectively, long after the release of this chapter.
* Narita Airport in real life.
* Narita Airport in chapter 1.
### Yaiba's jungle[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=10 "Edit section: Yaiba's jungle")]
The unnamed jungle [Yaiba Kurogane](/wiki/Yaiba_Kurogane "Yaiba Kurogane") and his [father](/wiki/Kenjuro_Kurogane "Kenjuro Kurogane") live in seems to be (intentionally) highly ambigious about what jungle or even on which continent it could remotely be. Besides the rather generous surroundings, animals like Gorillas (from Sub-Saharan Africa), Tigers (having their habitat in continental Asia) and Jaguars (who usually live in Central and South America) seem to have their dwell there.
## Trivia[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=11 "Edit section: Trivia")]
* This chapter was made/released directly after the three chapters of *[Detective George's Mini-Mini Big Strategy](/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama%27s_Collection_of_Short_Stories#Detective_George.27s_Mini-Mini_Big_Strategy "Gosho Aoyama's Collection of Short Stories")*, which were in turn directly made after [chapter 12 of *Magic Kaito* (Volume 2, Chapter 6)](/wiki/Magic_Kaito_Volume_2#Ghost_Game "Magic Kaito Volume 2"). [Gosho Aoyama](/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama "Gosho Aoyama") described this experience as pretty daunting and that he really had to rush the latter chapter to get it all done on time.
* [Narita Airport](/wiki/index.php?title=Narita_Airport&action=edit&redlink=1 "Narita Airport (page does not exist)"), where Yaiba and his father [Kenjuro Kurogane](/wiki/Kenjuro_Kurogane "Kenjuro Kurogane") unintentionally get transported to, is a setting featured frequently in the works of [Gosho Aoyama](/wiki/Gosho_Aoyama "Gosho Aoyama"). It's also where Princess [Anne of Sabrina](/wiki/index.php?title=Anne_of_Sabrina&action=edit&redlink=1 "Anne of Sabrina (page does not exist)") lands in *[Magic Kaito](/wiki/Magic_Kaito "Magic Kaito")*, as well as the place of [Conan Edogawa](/wiki/Conan_Edogawa "Conan Edogawa")'s confrontation with [Yutaka Abe](/wiki/Yutaka_Abe "Yutaka Abe") and the airport [Vermouth](/wiki/Vermouth "Vermouth") returns to [Tokyo](/wiki/Tokyo "Tokyo") to in *[Detective Conan](/wiki/Detective_Conan "Detective Conan")*.
* The plane Yaiba and his father arrive with is "flight #704" with a machine of [Japan Airlines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines "wikipedia:Japan Airlines") (JAL), a real airway company. JAL's crescent-shaped logo also was the template for the brand of the (fictional) [LUNA](/wiki/index.php?title=LUNA&action=edit&redlink=1 "LUNA (page does not exist)") airline company in *Detective Conan*.
* The taxi cab sports the company name "OX".
## Adaptations[[edit](/wiki/index.php?title=Yaiba_Appears&action=edit&section=12 "Edit section: Adaptations")]
Main article: [Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba](/wiki/Kenyuu_Densetsu_Yaiba "Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba")
* **Episode 1:** [Heisei's Samurai Yaiba Appears](/wiki/Heisei%27s_Samurai_Yaiba_Appears "Heisei's Samurai Yaiba Appears")