For years, the Japanese cinema cranked out samurai adventures about a blind swordsman named Zatoichi. As a job description, “blind swordsman” does not sound reassuring, but it’s a gimmick that has ...

When I was in high school 20-something years ago, I would get up early every Saturday to watch Zatoichi movies on cable. One of Japan’s longest-running film series (seriously, think the Marvel movies ...

One of the most popular heroes in Japanese cinema, Zatoichi the blind swordsman inspired 26 feature films, more than 100 TV episodes, and countless comics and collectibles. But for a matinee idol, he ...

Those in the mood for a bit of authentic swordplay (sans Tom Cruise, that is) would do well to catch Zatoichi #4: The Fugitive this Saturday night. In this 1963 episode of the renowned Japanese film ...

Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished ...

It's hard to nominate the four most significant samurai movies of all time, but you do have to consider classics like Seven ...

The official title is just ZVP, but this is actually Zatoichi vs Predator - but since it's fan-made and all for fun, he can't call it that due to IP rights. In feudal Japan, blind Swordsman Zatoichi ...

But there’s still enough “Beat” in Kitano for him to retain his impish streak. In “The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi,” more so than any other Kitano film save for the little-known “Getting Any?,” a gag is ...

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3807446/3807447" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> A ...