Zatoichi
Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period. 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.
This originally minor character was drastically altered and developed for the screen by Daiei Film and actor Shintaro Katsu, becoming not only one of leading franchises of the company but also the subject of 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 and bakuto who wanders the land, making his living by chō-han 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 during those three years he spent training 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, he usually has a bounty 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, 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 sword has a new blade by the next film, which he wields until the fifteenth film Zatoichi's Cane Sword. The blade 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 inexplicably breaks and is sold to a blacksmith along with its hilt and scabbard. Its replacement is not a shikomi-zue, but a jotō 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 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".
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. Ichi is therefore properly called Zatō-no-Ichi, or Zatōichi for short. Massage and acupuncture were traditional occupations for the blind. Being lesser hinin, 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 connects with the Shaw Brothers series of Hong Kong-produced movies directed by prolific director Chang Cheh; and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo 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, are alluded to when Sassa is jokingly called Shijuro.
List of films
- Note: The English titles shown are the common commercially used titles; they are not direct translations of the original Japanese titles.
Directors
- 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
- 26 episodes, in 1974
- 29 episodes, in 1976
- 19 episodes, in 1978
- 26 episodes, in 1979
The first season of television shows has been released with English subtitles from Media Blasters / Tokyo Shock.
Production companies
The first 20 films were produced and distributed by Daiei Film, except for the 16th film Zatoichi the Outlaw and the 20th film Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo which were produced by Shintaro Katsu's own company, Katsu Productions, and distributed theatrically by Daiei. Following the bankruptcy of Daiei in 1971, Katsu Productions and Toho formed a partnership to continue the production of the series and Gamera, another leading franchise of the company, and both series derived several films under this structure respectively.The last 6 films were also produced by Katsu Productions. Distribution of these films was done by Dainichi Eihai, Toho, and Shochiku which released Katsu's last Zatoichi film in 1989. It was re-released in 2004, occasioned by the new 2003 Zatoichi film, Zatoichi, starring Takeshi Kitano, 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 was granted United States distribution rights to the original Daiei films, and released them on DVD: the films were numbered 1–13, 15, and 17–19. AnimEigo released seven of the films: Zatoichi the Outlaw, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, Zatoichi at the Fire Festival, Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman, Zatoichi at Large, Zatoichi in Desperation, and Zatoichi at the Blood Fest.
Media Blasters have released both the 1989 film and the first season of the TV series.
The Criterion Collection released the first 25 films as a dual-format Blu-ray and DVD boxed set on November 26, 2013.