Zatoichi
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 featured in one of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's longest running series of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s and a television series set in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. The character, a blind masseur
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...

 and swordmaster
Kenjutsu
, meaning "the method, or technique, of the sword." This is opposed to kendo, which means the way of the sword. Kenjutsu is the umbrella term for all traditional schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration...

, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios (now Kadokawa Pictures
Kadokawa Pictures
is a Japanese movie studio.-History:One of the most famous studios in Japan and founded in 1942 as , it is best known for having produced the giant monster Gamera film series and the Daimajin Trilogy. It also produced the Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshiro film series and the television series Shōnen Jet...

) and actor Shintaro Katsu
Shintaro Katsu
, born Toshio Okumura was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director...

, who created the screen version. A total of 26 films were made from 1962 to 1989. From 1972 to 1974, the television series "Zatoichi" was produced, starring Katsu and some of the same stars that appeared in the films. These were produced by Katsu Productions. One hundred episodes, with episodes 99 and 100 being a two-part story finale, were aired before the "Zatoichi" television series was cancelled.

Film number 17 of the original series was remade in America in 1990 (by TriStar Pictures) as Blind Fury
Blind Fury
Blind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the...

,
an action movie starring Rutger Hauer.

More recently, Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

 directed and starred in a 2003 Zatoichi movie
Zatoichi (2003 film)
is a 2003 Japanese samurai drama and action film, directed, written, co-edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano as his eleventh film. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman....

. Show Aikawa also starred in a stage version of Zatoichi, directed by Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...

.

Character

Zatoichi at first appears to be a harmless blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

 anma
Anma
Anma refers to practitioners of the Japanese massage of the same name, which has its origins in China. Anma was often practiced in communal business groups in feudal Japan. They were made popular by the famous popular culture character known as Zatoichi, quite possibly the best known and most...

(masseur) and bakuto
Bakuto
Bakuto were itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. They were one of the forerunners of the modern Japanese crime gangs known as yakuza....

(gambler) who wanders around the country, making his living by Chō-han (playing dice) as well as giving massages, performing acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....

, singing and playing music; however, secretly, he is also highly-skilled in swordsmanship
Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...

, specifically iaido
Iaido
is a modern Japanese martial art associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard...

 and is equally skilled in the general sword skills of Japan, as well as Sumo wrestling. Little of his past is revealed; the reason for his blindness and how he developed his incredible swordsmanship are unknown.

He does not carry a traditional katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

, instead using a well-made shikomi-zue (cane sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

), as blades were outlawed for non-bushi
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 in the Edo period. Shikomi-zue were generally straight-edged, lower-quality blades which could not compare with regular katana, but as revealed in Zatoichi's Cane Sword, his weapon was forged by a master bladesmith
Bladesmith
Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworking for knife and sword handles, and often...

 and is of superior quality.

A recurring theme of the films and television series is Zatoichi protecting the innocent from oppressive or warring yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

 gangs, and investigating/stopping general injustice. His fighting skill is incredible, with his sword-grip in inverse manner; this, combined with his keen ear and sense of smell and proprioception
Proprioception
Proprioception , from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement...

, renders him a frightening opponent. He is quite capable with a traditional katana, as seen in Zatoichi's Vengeance and the bath house 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.

A number of standard scenarios are repeated through the series: Zatoichi's winning large amounts at gambling via his ability to hear whether the dice have fallen 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 .

The character's name is actually Ichi. Zatō is a title, the lowest of the four official ranks within the Tōdōza
Todoza
The was a Japanese guild for blind men, established in the 14th century by the biwa hōshi . Members performed a variety of roles, as itinerant musicians, masseurs, and acupuncturists. It received the patronage of the Muromachi and Edo shogunates, and remained active until the Meiji restoration,...

, the historical guild for blind men. (Thus zato is also Japanese slang for a blind person.) Ichi is therefore properly called Zatō-no-Ichi ("Low-Ranking Blind Person Ichi", approximately), or Zatōichi for short. Giving massages was a traditional occupation for the blind, as was playing the biwa
Biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....

. Because blind persons and masseurs were on the lowest social level, considered no better than beggars- especially during the Edo period- it was commonly thought the blind were severely mentally disabled, deaf and sexually dangerous.

The original series of films

The original series of 26 films featured Shintaro Katsu
Shintaro Katsu
, born Toshio Okumura was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director...

 as Zatoichi. The first film was made in 1962 in black-and-white|black and white. The third film, in 1963, was the first to be filmed in color. The twenty-fifth 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 and the One Armed Swordsman (1971) connects with the Shaw Brothers
Shaw Brothers Studio
The Shaw Brothers Studio , owned by Shaw Brothers Ltd., was the foremost and the largest movie production company of Hong Kong movies.From their distribution base in Singapore where they founded parent company Shaw Organization in 1924, and as a strategic development of their movie distribution...

 series of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 produced movies directed by prolific director Chang Cheh
Chang Cheh
Chang Cheh was Shaw Brothers Studio's best known and most prolific film director, with such films as the Five Venoms, the Brave Archer , the The One-Armed Swordsman, and other classics of wuxia and kung fu film.-Career:Referred to as "The Godfather of Hong Kong cinema", Chang Cheh directed over 100...

.

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970) features Toshirō Mifune
Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...

 who played Imperial Shogunate Secret Agent Sassa Daisaka. This is essentially a reprisal of the title character of Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...

's hit films Yojimbo (lit. "bodyguard") and Sanjuro
Sanjuro
is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's previous film Yojimbo, with Mifune reprising his role as a wandering ronin...

(lit. "thirty-year-old"). As in Kurosawa's films, in this film the Yojimbo character is simply continued through a timeline, though his previously unknown identity is finally revealed in this Zatoichi film.

List of original films

No. Title Year Japanese Romanization Director
1 The Tale of Zatoichi 1962
1962 in film
The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....

座頭市物語 Zatōichi monogatari Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

2 The Tale of Zatoichi Continues
The Tale of Zatoichi Continues
is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori and starring Shintarō Katsu as Zatoichi the blind swordsman. The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is the second entry in the popular, long-running Zatoichi series.-Plot:...

続・座頭市物語 Zoku Zatōichi monogatari Kazuo Mori
Kazuo Mori
was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1930s to 1970s.- Filmography :Kazuo Mori directed 131 films:* * Fighting Fire Fighter...

3 New Tale of Zatoichi
New Tale of Zatoichi
The New Tale Of Zatoichi is a Japanese film, the third entry from the popular Zatoichi series completing the trilogy. The film is the first Zatoichi film to be in colour.-Plot:...

1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....

新・座頭市物語 Shin Zatōichi monogatari Tokuzo Tanaka
4 Zatoichi The Fugitive
Zatoichi The Fugitive
Zatoichi: The Fugitive is a 1963 Japanese Chambara film directed by Tokuzo Tanaka starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company...

座頭市兇状旅 Zatōichi kyōjō-tabi
5 Zatoichi on the Road
Zatoichi on the Road
Zatoichi: On the Road is a 1963 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company...

座頭市喧嘩旅 Zatōichi kenka-tabi Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

6 Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold 1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....

座頭市千両首 Zatōichi senryō-kubi Kazuo Ikehiro
7 Zatoichi's Flashing Sword 座頭市あばれ凧 Zatōichi abare tako
8 Fight, Zatoichi, Fight 座頭市血笑旅 Zatōichi kesshō-tabi Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

9 Adventures of Zatoichi 座頭市関所破り Zatōichi sekisho-yaburi Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

10 Zatoichi's Revenge 1965
1965 in film
The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...

座頭市二段斬り Zatōichi nidan-giri Akira Inoue
11 Zatoichi and the Doomed Man 座頭市逆手斬り Zatōichi sakate-giri Kazuo Mori
Kazuo Mori
was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1930s to 1970s.- Filmography :Kazuo Mori directed 131 films:* * Fighting Fire Fighter...

12 Zatoichi and the Chess Expert 座頭市地獄旅 Zatōichi jigoku-tabi Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

13 Zatoichi's Vengeance 1966
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...

座頭市の歌が聞える Zatōichi no uta ga kikoeru Tokuzo Tanaka
14 Zatoichi's Pilgrimage 座頭市海を渡る Zatōichi umi o wataru Kazuo Ikehiro
15 Zatoichi's Cane Sword 1967
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....

座頭市鉄火旅 Zatōichi tekka-tabi Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

16 Zatoichi the Outlaw 座頭市牢破り Zatōichi rōyaburi Satsuo Yamamoto
Satsuo Yamamoto
was a Japanese film director.Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima Prefecture on July 15, 1910. He dropped out of Waseda University to join Shochiku, where he worked as an assistant director to Mikio Naruse and others. He followed Naruse when he moved to PCL, and became a director in his own right after...

17 Zatoichi Challenged 座頭市血煙り街道 Zatōichi chikemurikaidō Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

18 Zatoichi and the Fugitives 1968
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...

座頭市果し状 Zatōichi hatashijō Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

19 Samaritan Zatoichi 座頭市喧嘩太鼓 Zatōichi kenka-daiko Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

20 Zatoichi and Yojimbo 1970
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....

座頭市と用心棒 Zatōichi to Yōjinbō Kihachi Okamoto
Kihachi Okamoto
was a Japanese film director who has worked in several different genres, including jidaigeki.-Career:Born in Yonago, Okamoto attended Meiji University, but was drafted in 1943 and entered World War II during its most difficult hours, an experience that had a profound effect on his later film work,...

21 Zatoichi, The Festival Of Fire 座頭市あばれ火祭り Zatōichi abare-himatsuri Kenji Misumi
Kenji Misumi
was a notable Japanese film director. He created films such as Lone Wolf and Cub and the initial film in the long-running Zatoichi series.He died at age 53.-Filmography:...

22 Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman 1971
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...

新座頭市・破れ!唐人剣 Shin Zatōichi: Yabure! Tōjin-ken Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

23 Zatoichi at Large 1972
1972 in film
The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...

座頭市御用旅 Zatōichi goyō-tabi Kazuo Mori
Kazuo Mori
was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1930s to 1970s.- Filmography :Kazuo Mori directed 131 films:* * Fighting Fire Fighter...

24 Zatoichi in Desperation 新座頭市物語・折れた杖 Shin Zatōichi monogatari: Oreta tsue Shintarō Katsu
Shintaro Katsu
, born Toshio Okumura was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director...

25 Zatoichi's Conspiracy 1973
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....

新座頭市物語・笠間の血祭り Shin Zatōichi monogatari: Kasama no chimatsuri Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1950s to 1970s. He directed few films sbout Zatoichi.- Filmography :* The Young Swordsman...

26 Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman 1989
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...

座頭市 Zatōichi Shintarō Katsu
Shintaro Katsu
, born Toshio Okumura was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director...


  • Notes: The English titles shown are the common commercially used titles, thus not direct translations of the original Japanese titles.

The television series

See also: List of Zatoichi episodes

The television series of Zatoichi ran for four seasons, with Shintaro Katsu in the lead role:
  1. 26 episodes, in 1974
  2. 29 episodes, in 1976
  3. 19 episodes, in 1978
  4. 26 episodes, in 1979

The 1989 remake

In 1989, TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...

 released a remake called Blind Fury
Blind Fury
Blind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the...

starring Rutger Hauer as the Zatoichi character. Here, Hauer is a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 vet who is blinded, then taught to fence by a local tribe before returning home to America. It is the production of this film that dissuaded Quentin Tarantino from remaking a Zatoichi film (The One-armed Swordsman) a year earlier. This film is based on Zatoichi Challenged (1967, the 17th film in the original series).

The 2003 remake

In 2003, Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

 wrote, directed and appeared in a new high-budget Zatoichi film, called simply Zatoichi
Zatoichi (2003 film)
is a 2003 Japanese samurai drama and action film, directed, written, co-edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano as his eleventh film. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman....

(座頭市 Zatōichi). It premiered on September 3, 2003 at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

, where it won the prestigious Silver Lion
Silver Lion
The Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...

 award, and went on to numerous other awards both at home and abroad. It also stars Tadanobu Asano
Tadanobu Asano
, born is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in Electric Dragon 80.000 V, Kakihara in Ichi the Killer, Mamoru Arita in Bright Future, Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi, Kenji in Last Life in the Universe, Aman in Survive Style 5+, Ayano in The Taste of Tea, and Temudjin...

, Michiyo Okusu
Michiyo Okusu
is a Chinese-born Japanese actress. She has been nominated for 4 Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 1981 Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role prize for her performance in Zigeunerweisen...

, Yui Natsukawa, Guadalcanal Taka, Daigiro Tachibana, Yuko Daike, Ittoku Kishibe, Saburo Ishikura
Saburo Ishikura
Saburo Ishikura is a Japanese actor that has acted in several movies directed by Beat Takeshi. He appeared as Takeshi's first advisor in Takeshi's Castle but was later fired with Sonomanma Higashi taking over his place...

, and Akira Emoto.

In this remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

, Zatoichi discovers a small, remote mountain town that has been overtaken by a bullying gang that is extorting money from the townspeople. As Zatoichi seeks to liberate the town, he encounters a ronin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....

seeking employment to pay for his ailing wife's needs, and two geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...

who are seeking to avenge the murder of their parents, but he soon discovers they are not what they seem to be.

The soundtrack features contributions from Keiichi Suzuki (formerly of the Moon Riders) and The Stripes.

The 2008 unrelated sequel

In Ichi
Ichi (2008 film)
Ichi is a 2008 action film directed by Fumihiko Sori, starring Takao Osawa, Haruka Ayase, Shido Nakamura, and Yosuke Kubozuka. It was released by Warner Bros. Japan on October 25, 2008.-Plot:...

, a blind female musician who is rescued (and later trained) by Zatoichi travels Japan to find her mentor.

The 2010 remake

Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...

 released a new Zatoichi film, titled "Zatoichi: The Last
Zatoichi: The Last
is a samurai film from 2010 directed by Junji Sakamoto and starring Shingo Katori in the role of Zatoichi.-Plot:The films starts with the wife of Ichi being murdered by the son of a yakuza boss. Following her death, Ichi returns to his hometown, where he hopes to resume a normal life as a farmer...

" on May 29, 2010, starring Shingo Katori
Shingo Katori
is the youngest member of SMAP, a popular Japanese idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates, and he is from Yokohama, Japan. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a voice actor in such anime series as Akazukin Chacha, in which he voiced the part of...

 as Zatoichi.

Production companies

The majority of the films were produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company: from the first film, Zatoichi's Story (wrongly translated as all the titles are, as The Tale of Zatoichi a/k/a The Life and Opinions of Masseur Ichi), to the 19th film, Zatoichi Samaritan. Toho Studios picked up where it had left off—the 16th film, Zatoichi the Outlaw—with the 20th film, Zatoichi and Yojimbo. The 22nd film, Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman, was released in 1971—the year Daiei Studios went bankrupt. It was just as well Toho had taken over production with the 20th film (Zatoichi and Yojimbo) in the series.

However, starting with film entry 16, Zatoichi the Outlaw in 1967, Shintaro Katsu's own company, Katsu Productions, coproduced the films (as well as producing the TV series and his last Zatoichi film). After Daiei was out of commission, Toho Company
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...

 took over the films as stated, including 1972's highly popular Zatoichi at Large, the 23rd film, through to Zatoichi at the Blood Fest in 1973, the 25th film. Shochiku
Shochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...

 did Katsu's last Zatoichi film in 1989, which was produced by Katsu Productions. It was re-released (and retitled Darkness Is His Ally) in 2004; this was no doubt sparked by the new 2003 Zatoichi film, Zatoichi, starring Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

, which Shochiku also released.

Chambara Entertainment/Video Action of Honolulu held the original VHS release rights to the Zatoichi film series numbers 1-20, though it only released some of them. Chambara eventually expired its North American release license. AnimEigo held the remainder of the VHS rights.

Home Vision Entertainment (not Criterion as is often misstated) was granted United States distribution rights to the original Daiei films (except for the 14th, and the 16th was in possession of AnimEigo), and released them on DVD: films numbered 1-13, 15, and 17-19. AnimEigo
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...

 released seven of the films: Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967), Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970), Zatoichi at the Fire Festival (1970, as Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire), Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman (1971), Zatoichi at Large (1972), Zatoichi in Desperation (1972), and Zatoichi at the Blood Fest (1973, as Zatoichi's Conspiracy). More than a few of these titles are somewhat questionable as to actual year of original production.

Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...

 (under their Tokyo Shock label) released the 1989 film. The first season (26 episodes) of the TV series was released on February 7, 2007.

Parodies

Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

 pretended to be blind, imitating the Zatoichi performance by Katsu, in his 1999 film Kikujiro
Kikujiro
The album includes "Summer", one of the most famous compositions by Hisaishi; it was also re-arranged and used for Toyota Corolla commercials, for instance...

.

In The Wicked Priest (1968), the first of a series of 5 films, Katsu's brother Tomisaburo Wakayama
Tomisaburo Wakayama
, born Masaru Okumura, was a Japanese actor, best known for playing Ogami Ittō, the scowling, 17th century ronin warrior in the six Lone Wolf and Cub samurai movies.-Biography:...

 does a perfect spoof of Zatoichi.

In other works

The character of Zatoichi finds homage in the character of Zato-Ino (also known as "the Blind Swordspig") in Stan Sakai
Stan Sakai
is a third-generation Japanese American Cartoonist comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series Usagi Yojimbo. -Biography:...

's long-running anthropomorphic comic series Usagi Yojimbo
Usagi Yojimbo
is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai in 1987. In 2011 IGN ranked Miyamoto Usagi 92nd in the top 100 comic books heroes.-Concept:Set primarily at the beginning of Edo period of Japan , with anthropomorphic animals replacing humans, the series features a rabbit ronin, Miyamoto Usagi, whom...

. This iteration of the character uses his keen sense of smell to find his way and to combat his enemies.

The Crimson Bat
Crimson Bat
The Crimson Bat is a series of four movies based around the character of the same name. The character was a blind swordswoman. It was made by Shochiku studios, as a response to the hugely successful Zatoichi series. The character, Ochi, was very similar to the Zatoichi character, that is she was a...

 film series was an unauthorized variation, with a blind woman named O-Ichi, played by Yoko Matsuyama
Yoko Matsuyama
is a Japanese actress best known for her work in the Crimson Bat series.-Filmography:#Crimson Bat #明治の風雪 柔旋風 #続・柔旋風 四天王誕生...

, as the sword-wielding hero. This series of films was not well received; only three films were produced and the producers were chastised for stealing from the Ichi character.

Blindman was a spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...

 variation on the Zatoichi formula starring Tony Anthony
Tony Anthony (actor)
Tony Anthony , is a former film actor, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his starring roles in spaghetti westerns.-Early career:...

 as a blind gunman.

The 1989 movie Blind Fury
Blind Fury
Blind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the...

starring Rutger Hauer was inspired by Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the series. In this movie Hauer plays a blind Vietnam War veteran trained to use a sword cane in battle, thus giving his remake character a more American background.

In the 2006 movie Devil's Den, while being trapped in the strip club by female ghouls, the main characters have a fantasy scenario of how Zatoichi would deal with the ghouls himself.

In the Shogun update of Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...

, a katana called "The Half-Zatoichi" was introduced for use by both the soldier and demoman, alluding to the fact that the demoman uses an eyepatch and is half-blind, while the soldier wears an improperly fitted helmet and has impaired vision.

External links

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