Zatoichi

Zatoichi (座頭市 "Zatōichi") is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa (子母澤寛, "Shimozawa Kan"). This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor Shintaro Katsu, who created the screen version. A total of 26 films were made from 1962 to 1989, with the 26th film being released in 1989. From 1972 to 1974, a television series of the same name was made. One hundred twelve episodes were aired before the "Zatoichi" tv series was cancelled. [http://www.momii.com/zatoichi/]

Film number 17 of the original series was remade in America in 1990 (by TriStar Pictures) as "Blind Fury," an action movie starring Rutger Hauer.

More recently, Takeshi Kitano directed and starred in a 2003 Zatoichi movie. Sho Aikawa also starred in a stage version of Zatoichi, directed by Takashi Miike [http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-1452>] .

Character

Zatoichi at first appears to be a harmless blind anma ("masseur") who wanders around the country, making his living by gambling as well as giving massages, performing acupuncture, singing and playing music; however, he is also highly-skilled in swordsmanship, specifically iaido and is equally skilled in the general sword skills of Japan, as well as Sumo wrestling.

He does not carry a traditional katana, instead using a well-made shikomi-zue (cane sword), as blades were outlawed in the Edo period. "Shikomi-tzue" were generally straight-edged, lower-quality blades which could not compare with regular "katana", but as revealed in "Zatoichi's Cane Sword", his weapon is superior as it was forged by a master bladesmith.

A recurring theme of the films and television series is Zatoichi protecting the innocent from oppressive or warring yakuza 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, renders him a frightening opponent. He is quite capable with a traditional katana, as seen in "Zatoichi's Vengeance".

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" 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. It is also a play on words: "Sa" or "za" is a combinative word for "master"; "to" is likewise for "sword"; and "ichi" means "one"; therefore, an alternate translation might read "First Sword Master", or perhaps "Master of the Unique Sword Style". Giving massages was a traditional occupation for the blind, since blind persons and masseurs were on the lowest social level, no better than beggars because in Japan it was common to think of the blind as also being retarded or perverted.

The original series of films

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 twenty-fifth film was made in 1973, and there was a pause of some 16 years before Katsu's last film, in 1989, which he wrote and directed himself.

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 series of Hong Kong produced movies directed by prolific director Chang Cheh.

"Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo" (1970) features a guest star, Toshiro Mifune playing a character named Sassa Daisakka who, despite the title, bears slight resemblance to the title character of Akira Kurosawa's hit films "Yojimbo" (lit. "bodyguard") and "Sanjuro". The earlier films, in which Mifune's character used the pseudonym "Sanjuro" (thirty-year-old), are alluded to when Sassa is jokingly called "Shijuro" (forty-year-old).

The series has also had wide spread influences on non-Japanese films. The 1989 film "Blind Fury" featuring Rutger Hauer as a blind swordsman in contemporary America is based on "Zatoichi Challenged" (1967, the 17th film in the series of 26).

Zatoichi is one of several fictional blind heroes with superhuman fighting skills, and while predated by such American characters as the pulp fiction and comic book heroes The Black Bat and Doctor Mid-Nite respectively, is followed by the likes of Daredevil. The 1970s television series "Kung Fu" also featured the blind Shaolin priest Master Po (played by Keye Luke).

List of original films

Notes:
* The English title is not a direct translation of the Japanese title.
* The 14th film in the series is available as a legal Region 1 DVD with English subtitles at [http://www.samuraidvd.com] The film is also available as a legal Region 2 DVD, without English subtitles, in Japan, and on Region 2 UK DVD with English subtitles, as part of a box set or individually.
** Both the Region 2 single UK DVD and the four-disc box set ("Zatoichi Box Set 2", by Artsmagic) actually contain "Zatoichi at Large" from 1972, instead of "Zatoichi's Pilgrimage", under the wrong title and with noticeably lower image quality than other titles in the set.

The television series

The television series of Zatoichi ran for four seasons, with Shintaro Katsu in the lead role:

# 26 episodes, in 1974
# 29 episodes, in 1976
# 19 episodes, in 1978
# 26 episodes, in 1979

See also: List of Zatoichi episodes

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 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 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, 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. [http://www.momii.com]

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 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 (under their Tokyo Shock label) has released the 1989 film and (as of February 7, 2007) the first season (26 episodes) of the TV series.

At the present time, all DVD release rights except for the 26th film have been revoked or lapsed; it is unknown who presently holds the American release rights, if anyone. AnimEigo and HVE both lost their DVD release rights. [http://www.momii.com] However, as stated, Media Blasters holds DVD release rights to the last film of the Zatoichi series, re-released in 2003 as "Darkness Is His Ally", as well as the entire television series. It is possible Media Blasters is negotiating for the DVD rights to the "entire" film series.

The parodies

1979 saw the release of the great Monty Python team's "Yellowbeard the Pirate". One of the characters (played by John Cleese, Harvery "Blind" Pew) is a Zatoichi homage. Takeshi Kitano did a brief and hilarious parody of the character in his 1999 film "Kikujiro", which was a 'double-remake': of the 1986 film "Dutch" and one of the original Zatoichi films. In "The Wicked Priest" (1968), the first of a series of 5 films, Katsu's real-life brother Tomisaburo Wakayama does a 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's long-running anthropomorphic comic series "Usagi Yojimbo". This iteration of the character uses his keen sense of smell to find his way and to combat his enemies.

The Crimson Bat film series was an unauthorized variation, with a blind woman named O-Ichi, played by Yoko Matsuyama, 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 charcater.

"Blindman" was a spaghetti western variation on the Zatoichi formula starring Tony Anthony as a blind gunman.

The 1989 movie "Blind Fury" 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.

The anime Ninja Scroll also contained an homage to this character, Utsutsu Mushuru, one of the 8 Devils of Kimon. He was a blind samurai who at the height of his battle with the main character, used his sword to blind his opponent. He was slain, yet was one of the few Devils of Kimon to show honor in battle.

In the episode of "The Boondocks" television series "Granddad's Fight", Huey trains his grandfather believing his blind opponent (who uses his cane as a weapon) is a master of martial arts like Zatoichi, even making his granddad watch some ultra-violent scenes from the movies to demonstrate his point.

A character called Zato-1 appears in the first two installments of the fighting video game series "Guilty Gear"; he uses a parasitic beast to gain powers, at the cost of his sight. His name is a pun: the number 1 can be pronounced "ichi" in Japanese.

At the very end of the film "", a sign reading "Zatoichi Square" is seen in devastated and zombie-infested Tokyo.

In Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film, "Death Proof", Jungle Julia Lucai calls Stuntman Mike "Zatoichi" for not having seen a billboard clearly in his line of sight.

The 2008 film "Ichi" features a blind female musician who is also a skilled swordswoman.

The 2003 film

In 2003, Takeshi Kitano produced a new high-budget Zatoichi film, called simply "Zatoichi" (座頭市 "Zatōichi").

In this remake, Zatoichi discovers a small, remote mountain town that has been overtaken by a bullying gang that is extorting money out of them. As Zatoichi seeks to liberate the town, he encounters a "ronin" seeking employment to pay for his ailing wife's needs, and two "geisha" 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.

ee also

* Samurai cinema
* Bakuto
* Cho-han bakuchi

External links

*
* [http://www.godzillamonstermusic.com/zatoichi1.htm Zatoichi's Musical Journey (CDs of the original film music) - Volumes 1] [http://www.godzillamonstermusic.com/zatoichi2.htm 2] and [http://www.godzillamonstermusic.com/zatoichi3.htm 3]
* [http://www.momii.com/zatoichi/ The Momii Company's Zatoichi site] —a commercial site selling Zatoichi on VHS and DVD, with good information on the series
* [http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/zatoichidvds.html The Digital Bits' DVD Review Index - Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman on DVD]
* [http://members.aol.com/ZATO1CH1/ Zatoichi No Eigamono] —synopses of the first sixteen Zatoichi films
* [http://www.mallo.co.uk/reviews/zatoichi.htm Zatoichi region 2 disc mix-up] —review of the infamous Artsmagic box set
* [http://www.samuraidvd.com samuraiDVD] , which has Zatoichi Umio Wataru [Zatoichi's Pilgrimage] available.
* [http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2007/07/14/an-interview-with-samuraidvdcom/2/ Interview] with Merlin, proprietor of Samurai DVD
* Rev. Antonio Hernandez's two-part history of Zatoichi: [http://www.hackwriters.com/zatoichi.htm] , [http://www.hackwriters.com/zatoichi2.htm]