is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay Zatoichi Monogatari, part of Shimozawa's Futokoro Techō series that was serialized in the magazine Shōsetsu to Yomimono.
Overview
Zatoichi was originally a minor character but, after drastic alterations, was developed for the screen by Daiei Film and actor Shintaro Katsu, becoming the subject of one of the company's leading franchises and one of Japan's longest-running film series, even after the bankruptcy of the company in 1971. A total of 26 films were made between 1962 and 1989. From 1974 to 1979, a television series was produced, starring Katsu and some of the same actors that appear in the films. Produced by Katsu Productions, 100 episodes were aired before the Zatoichi television series was cancelled.
The seventeenth film of the Zatoichi series was remade in the US in 1989 by TriStar Pictures as Blind Fury, starring Rutger Hauer. A 2003 film was directed by Takeshi Kitano, who also starred as the title character. It was awarded the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion for Best Direction. A stage adaptation of Zatoichi directed by Takashi Miike and starring Show Aikawa was filmed in 2007 and later released on home video. Zatoichi: The Last is a 2010 film directed by Junji Sakamoto and starring Shingo Katori.
Character Zatoichi at first comes across as a harmless blind anma (masseur) and bakuto (gambler) who wanders the land, making his living by chō-han (playing dice) as well as giving massages, performing acupuncture and even, on occasion, singing and playing music. Secretly, however, he is very highly skilled in swordsmanship, specifically Muraku-school kenjutsu and iaido along with the more general sword skills of Japan, as well as sumo wrestling and kyujutsu.
Little of his past is revealed, other than that he lost his sight as a child through illness. His father disappeared for undisclosed reasons when Zatoichi was about five years old. He is described by his swordsmanship instructor as having practiced constantly and with extreme devotion when he was a pupil in order to develop his exceptional skills. Zatoichi says of himself that he became a yakuza (gangster) during those three years he spent training (which immediately precede the original The Tale of Zatoichi) and killed many people, something he later came to deeply regret. This is reflected in his willingness to involve himself in the affairs of others—chiefly, those suffering from oppression and exploitation, or some form of corruption. Despite that moral re-assessment and his new perspective and remorse (and most often because of them), he usually has a bounty (sometimes quite large) on his head from one source or another throughout the movies and series. However, because of his earnestness, wit, and natural sense of empathy, many people who encounter him during his travels grow to respect and even care for him.
Unlike a bushi, he does not carry a traditional katana. Instead, he uses a well-made shikomi-zue (仕込み杖, lit. "prepared cane" or cane sword), as the use or possession of true fighting blades was formally outlawed for non-samurai during the Edo period. The decree was virtually impossible to enforce, however, as evidenced by the yakuza enforcers being shown wielding katanas throughout the films. The blades of Shikomi-zue were generally straight-edged, of lower-quality, unfolded steel, which could not compare with even a low-end katana. As a result, the blade in Ichi's cane sword is broken during the climactic battle in Zatoichi the Fugitive (the fourth film). The sword has a new blade by the next film, which he wields until the fifteenth film Zatoichi's Cane Sword. The blade (which breaks during the film) and the blade that replaces it were specially forged at great expense and with far more than the usual care by master bladesmiths and were both of exceptional quality, superior to the swords of even most samurai. At the beginning of Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, his swordblade (presumably the same) inexplicably breaks and is sold to a blacksmith along with its hilt and scabbard. Its replacement is not a shikomi-zue, but a jotō (杖刀 lit. a "staff sword") of unrevealed origin that resembles a short, thick bo staff, which also soon breaks. In the next film, Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire, he is once again using his trademark cane sword, outfitted with a new blade of unknown origin and quality.
The principal recurring thematic formula of these films and the television series is that of the ever-wandering and sentimental drifter who protects the innocent and the helpless from oppressive or warring yakuza gangs, stops the worst of general injustice or predation and aids the unfortunate, and often, through no fault of his own, is set upon by ruffians or stumbles into harm's way. Zatoichi's saga is essentially one of an earthy but basically good and wise man almost always trying to do the decent thing, to somehow redeem himself and perhaps atone for past failings. Nevertheless, he believes himself instead to be a stained, corrupted and evil man, irredeemable and undeserving of the love and respect that some show and rightly have for him. This self-described "god of calamities" is routinely a magnet for troubles of one sort or another. Death is his only constant companion, as he pragmatically does not allow other people, especially those he loves or thinks highly of, to get close and stay there for long; such would lead to eventual tragedy. Death does seem, like a shadow, actually to follow an often reluctant Zatoichi almost everywhere he goes, and despite his mostly compassionate nature, killing appears to come entirely naturally to him.
His lightning-fast fighting skill is superlative, with his sword held in a reverse grip; this, combined with his unflappable steel-nerved wits in a fight, his keen ears, sense of smell and proprioception, all render him a formidable adversary. He is also quite capable with a traditional katana, as seen in Zatoichi's Vengeance and the bathhouse scene in Zatoichi and the Festival of Fire. Similarly, he displays considerable skill using two swords simultaneously, in Musashi-like Nitō Ichi style in Zatoichi and the Doomed Man. Almost preternaturally dangerous with blades, he is fully capable (whether standing, sitting or lying down) of fighting and swiftly defeating multiple skilled opponents simultaneously. Some, however, have come close to besting him in combat, in particular during the final duel in Zatoichi Challenged, where extenuating circumstances played a role.
A number of other standard scenarios are also repeated through the series: Zatoichi's winning of large amounts at gambling via his ability to hear whether the dice have fallen on even or odd is a common theme, as is his catching loaded or substituted dice by the difference in their sound. This frequently culminates in another set piece, Zatoichi's cutting the candles lighting the room and reducing it to pitch blackness, commonly accompanied by his tagline "Kurayami nara kotchi no mon da" (暗闇ならこっちのもんだ; roughly meaning "Darkness is my ally" or "Now we are all blind").
The character's name is actually Ichi. Zatō is a title, the lowest of the four official ranks within the Tōdōza, the historical guild for blind men (thus, zato also designates a blind person in Japanese slang). Ichi is therefore properly called Zatō-no-Ichi ("Low-Ranking Blind Person Ichi", approximately), or Zatōichi for short. Massage and acupuncture were traditional occupations for the blind (as their lack of sight removed the issue of gender). Being lesser hinin (lit. "non-people"), blind people and masseurs were regarded as among the very lowest of the low in social class, other than eta or outright criminals; they were generally considered wretches, beneath notice, no better than beggars or even the insane—especially during the Edo period—and it was also commonly thought that the blind were accursed, despicable, severely mentally disabled, deaf and sexually dangerous.
Original film series
The original series of 26 films featured Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi. The first film was made in 1962 in black and white. The third film, in 1963, was the first to be filmed in color. The 25th film was made in 1973, followed by a hiatus of 16 years until Katsu's last film, which he wrote and directed himself in 1989.
The original series of movies features other popular fictional characters of the genre on two occasions. Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971) connects with the Shaw Brothers series of Hong Kong-produced movies directed by prolific director Chang Cheh; and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970) features Toshiro Mifune as Imperial Shogunate Secret Agent Daisaku Sasa. This character resembles the title character of Akira Kurosawa's films Yojimbo and Sanjuro. The earlier films, in which Mifune's character used the pseudonym Sanjuro (30-year-old), are alluded to when Sassa is jokingly called Shijuro (40-year-old).
List of films No.English TitleYearJapaneseRomanizationDirectorProductionDistribution1The Tale of Zatoichi1962座頭市物語Zatōichi monogatariKenji MisumiDaieiDaiei2The Tale of Zatoichi Continues続・座頭市物語Zoku Zatōichi monogatariKazuo Mori3The New Tale of Zatoichi1963新・座頭市物語Shin Zatōichi monogatariTokuzō Tanaka4Zatoichi the Fugitive座頭市兇状旅Zatōichi kyōjō-tabi5Zatoichi on the Road座頭市喧嘩旅Zatōichi kenka-tabiKimiyoshi Yasuda6Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold1964座頭市千両首Zatōichi senryō-kubiKazuo Ikehiro7Zatoichi's Flashing Sword座頭市あばれ凧Zatōichi abare tako8Fight, Zatoichi, Fight座頭市血笑旅Zatōichi kesshō-tabiKenji Misumi9Adventures of Zatoichi座頭市関所破りZatōichi sekisho-yaburiKimiyoshi Yasuda10Zatoichi's Revenge1965座頭市二段斬りZatōichi nidan-giriAkira Inoue11Zatoichi and the Doomed Man座頭市逆手斬りZatōichi sakate-giriKazuo Mori12Zatoichi and the Chess Expert座頭市地獄旅Zatōichi jigoku-tabiKenji Misumi13Zatoichi's Vengeance1966座頭市の歌が聞えるZatōichi no uta ga kikoeruTokuzō Tanaka14Zatoichi's Pilgrimage座頭市海を渡るZatōichi umi o wataruKazuo Ikehiro15Zatoichi's Cane Sword1967座頭市鉄火旅Zatōichi tekka-tabiKimiyoshi Yasuda16Zatoichi the Outlaw座頭市牢破りZatōichi rōyaburiSatsuo YamamotoKatsu Productions17Zatoichi Challenged座頭市血煙り街道Zatōichi chikemurikaidōKenji MisumiDaiei18Zatoichi and the Fugitives1968座頭市果し状Zatōichi hatashijōKimiyoshi Yasuda19Samaritan Zatoichi座頭市喧嘩太鼓Zatōichi kenka-daikoKenji Misumi20Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo1970座頭市と用心棒Zatōichi to YōjinbōKihachi OkamotoKatsu Productions21Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival座頭市あばれ火祭りZatōichi abare-himatsuriKenji MisumiDainichi Eihai22Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman1971新座頭市・破れ！唐人剣Shin Zatōichi: Yabure! Tōjin-kenKimiyoshi Yasuda23Zatoichi at Large1972座頭市御用旅Zatōichi goyō-tabiKazuo MoriToho / Katsu ProductionsToho24Zatoichi in Desperation新座頭市物語・折れた杖Shin Zatōichi monogatari: Oreta tsueShintaro KatsuKatsu Productions25Zatoichi's Conspiracy1973新座頭市物語・笠間の血祭りShin Zatōichi monogatari: Kasama no chimatsuriKimiyoshi Yasuda26Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally1989座頭市ZatōichiShintaro KatsuKatsu PromotionShochiku
Note: The English titles shown are the common commercially used titles; they are not direct translations of the original Japanese titles.
Directors
Many directors directed multiple Zatoichi movies. The directors are (in order of number of movies they directed): Kenji Misumi: 6 Kimiyoshi Yasuda: 6 Kazuo Mori: 3 Tokuzō Tanaka: 3 Kazuo Ikehiro: 3 Shintaro Katsu: 2 Akira Inoue: 1 Satsuo Yamamoto: 1 Kihachi Okamoto: 1
Television series
The television series Zatoichi ran for four seasons—a total of 100 episodes—with Shintaro Katsu in the lead role: 26 episodes, in 1974 29 episodes, in 1976 19 episodes, in 1978 26 episodes, in 1979