He first appeared in the 1948 essay Zatoichi Monogatari (座頭市物語), part of Shimozawa's Futokoro Techō series that was serialized in the magazine Shōsetsu to Yomimono.
[1] The seventeenth film of the Zatoichi series was remade in the US in 1989 by TriStar Pictures as Blind Fury, starring Rutger Hauer.
A stage adaptation of Zatoichi directed by Takashi Miike and starring Show Aikawa was filmed in 2007 and later released on home video.
As a result, the blade in Ichi's cane sword is broken during the climactic battle in Zatoichi the Fugitive (the fourth film).
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.
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.
[citation needed] 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.
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.
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.
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").
"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.
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.
The directors are (in order of number of movies they directed): The television series Zatoichi ran for four seasons—a total of 100 episodes—with Shintaro Katsu in the lead role: Most of the stories in the television series are original dramas, but some are essentially redacted remakes of the full-length Zatoichi films of the previous decade such as Season One, Episode 14, "Fighting Journey with Baby in Tow" (corresponds to the 8th film "Fight, Zatoichi, Fight" 座頭市血笑旅 Zatōichi kesshō-tabi); Season One, Episode 16, "The Winds From Mt.
Zatoichi discovers a small, remote mountain town that has been overtaken by a bullying gang that is extorting money from the townspeople.
In 2008's Ichi, a blind female musician who is rescued (and later trained) by Zatoichi travels through Japan to find her mentor.