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Zatoichi (座頭市,   Zatōichi?) is a Japanese-made character featured in one of Japan's longest-running series of films, as well as a television show with the same name. Both are set during the late Edo period (the 1830s and 1840s). The character, a blind masseur and blade-master, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa.

Appearance

Zatoichi is a Japanese Swordsmanship Warrior and hero from Japan.

History

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 practised constantly and with extreme devotion when he was a pupil in order to develop his incredible 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/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 was 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 sword-blade (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, to actually follow an often reluctant Zatoichi almost everywhere he goes, and despite his mostly compassionate nature, the killing appears to come entirely naturally to him.

His lightning-fast fighting skill is incredible, 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 beating 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 tag line "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 IchiZatō 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. The massage was a traditional occupation for the blind (as their lack of sight removed the issue of gender), as was playing the biwa or, for blind women (goze), the shamisen. 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.

Powers

Zatoichi has human strengths.

Films

No. English Title Year Japanese Romanization Director Production Distribution
1 The Tale of Zatoichi 1962 座頭市物語 Zatōichi monogatari Kenji Misumi Daiei Daiei
2 The Tale of Zatoichi Continues 続・座頭市物語 Zoku Zatōichi monogatari Kazuo Mori Daiei Daiei
3 New Tale of Zatoichi 1963 新・座頭市物語 Shin Zatōichi monogatari Tokuzō Tanaka Daiei Daiei
4 Zatoichi The Fugitive 座頭市兇状旅 Zatōichi kyōjō-tabi Daiei Daiei
5 Zatoichi on the Road 座頭市喧嘩旅 Zatōichi kenka-tabi Kimiyoshi Yasuda Daiei Daiei
6 Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold 1964 座頭市千両首 Zatōichi senryō-kubi Kazuo Ikehiro Daiei Daiei
7 Zatoichi's Flashing Sword 座頭市あばれ凧 Zatōichi abare tako Daiei Daiei
8 Fight, Zatoichi, Fight 座頭市血笑旅 Zatōichi kesshō-tabi Kenji Misumi Daiei Daiei
9 Adventures of Zatoichi 座頭市関所破り Zatōichi sekisho-yaburi Kimiyoshi Yasuda Daiei Daiei
10 Zatoichi's Revenge 1965 座頭市二段斬り Zatōichi nidan-giri Akira Inoue Daiei Daiei
11 Zatoichi and the Doomed Man 座頭市逆手斬り Zatōichi sakate-giri Kazuo Mori Daiei Daiei
12 Zatoichi and the Chess Expert 座頭市地獄旅 Zatōichi jigoku-tabi Kenji Misumi Daiei Daiei
13 Zatoichi's Vengeance 1966 座頭市の歌が聞える Zatōichi no uta ga kikoeru Tokuzō Tanaka Daiei Daiei
14 Zatoichi's Pilgrimage 座頭市海を渡る Zatōichi umi o wataru Kazuo Ikehiro Daiei Daiei
15 Zatoichi's Cane Sword 1967 座頭市鉄火旅 Zatōichi tekka-tabi Kimiyoshi Yasuda Daiei Daiei
16 Zatoichi the Outlaw 座頭市牢破り Zatōichi rōyaburi Satsuo Yamamoto Katsu Productions Daiei
17 Zatoichi Challenged 座頭市血煙り街道 Zatōichi chikemurikaidō Kenji Misumi Daiei Daiei
18 Zatoichi and the Fugitives 1968 座頭市果し状 Zatōichi hatashijō Kimiyoshi Yasuda Daiei Daiei
19 Samaritan Zatoichi 座頭市喧嘩太鼓 Zatōichi kenka-daiko Kenji Misumi Daiei Daiei
20 Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo 1970 座頭市と用心棒 Zatōichi to Yōjinbō Kihachi Okamoto Katsu Productions Daiei
21 Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival 座頭市あばれ火祭り Zatōichi abare-himatsuri Kenji Misumi Katsu Productions Dainichi Eihai
22 Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman 1971 新座頭市・破れ!唐人剣 Shin Zatōichi: Yabure! Tōjin-ken Kimiyoshi Yasuda Katsu Productions Dainichi Eihai
23 Zatoichi at Large 1972 座頭市御用旅 Zatōichi goyō-tabi Kazuo Mori Toho / Katsu Productions Toho
24 Zatoichi in Desperation 新座頭市物語・折れた杖 Shin Zatōichi monogatari: Oreta tsue Shintaro Katsu Katsu Productions Toho
25 Zatoichi's Conspiracy 1973 新座頭市物語・笠間の血祭り Shin Zatōichi monogatari: Kasama no chimatsuri Kimiyoshi Yasuda Katsu Productions Toho
26 Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally 1989 座頭市 Zatōichi Shintaro Katsu Katsu Promotion Shochiku
  • Note: The English titles shown are the common commercially used titles, thus they are not direct translations of the original Japanese titles.

References

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