Zatoichi is a kyōkaku (侠客, a wanderer with a chivalrous spirit) from the Edo period, and tells the story of a blind masseur (座頭, zato) named Ichi (市, the blind man’s common name) who travels around the country, meeting and connecting with ordinary people, and confronting villains with his incredible iaijutsu (居合術, art of sword drawing) skills.
Since the 1962 film adaptation, The Tale of Zatoichi, starring Katsu Shintaro (勝新太郎, 1931-1997), a series of 26 films has been released, and since 1974 a television drama series of over 100 episodes has been produced, many of which Katsu has also directed.
Katsu’s directing style, which makes extensive use of close-up shots to capture every last detail of the actors’ expressions and portray their emotions in detail, is built on a meticulousness that sometimes invites the mysterious feeling that reality and dreams are intertwined.
Zatoichi, despite feeling deep loneliness, sadness and conflict in his heart, always lives on with conviction, and no matter how difficult the situation, he continues his journey alone with a strong will to make it on his own without relying on others.
Furthermore, as can be seen from the line, “A warrior will die for those who know him,” it is shown that, based on loyalty, Zatoichi has given deep thought to the meaning of his own existence, and as a result, is prepared to sacrifice his life for others. In other words, “the time to die” is consistent with the values of Bushido, which does not simply mean physical death, but also includes spiritual and ethical death.
Zatoichi’s way of life is not just one of loyalty, but also one filled with sincerity and strong will, believing that if he were to compromise his beliefs, he would be as good as dead spiritually, and that the most valuable way to live is to follow and stick to one’s beliefs, regardless of what others think. Moreover, it can be said that it is a struggle with human emotions and karma that cannot be contained within the framework of rewarding good and punishing evil, and is also a challenge to prove freedom from constraints.
Which means, Zatoichi does not fight out of a simple sense of duty or obligation to do something for others; rather, despite his inner conflict between his ideals and reality, he fights for a way of life that is true to his heart, without being bound by the past and with hope for the future, as can be seen from words such as “I want to help others even if it means sacrificing myself” and “I cannot change who I was in the past, but I can decide how I want to live now.”
According to Shimozawa Kan (子母澤寛, 1892-1968), the original author, wrote “The Tale of Zatoichi (座頭市物語)” based on a story he heard from a local elder about Zato-no-Ichi, a blind kyokaku, when he visited Sawara City, Chiba Prefecture, to research Iioka Sukegoro, a kyokaku who was active in the Boso region during the Edo period.
Zato-no-Ichi is said to be a real person named Abe Tsune’emon, a samurai of the Echigo Nagaoka domain. He became blind due to an eye disease in his youth and moved to his maternal hometown of Inawashiro, where he took the name Sadoichi and learned and practiced massage and acupuncture.
It is said that in the Edo period, few people were born blind, and because medicine was underdeveloped and sanitary conditions were poor, many people developed visual impairments due to illnesses in childhood such as ophthalmia, smallpox, measles, and trachoma, as well as malnutrition. It is difficult to estimate the number of blind people, but if we assume that the population at the time was 30 million and that the proportion of the blind population in the early modern period was 0.25% or more, it is said that there were at least approximately 75,000 blind people.
As an aside, in the 1969 film Blind Oichi (めくらのお市) starring Matsuyama Yoko (松山 容子), it is said that when Oichi was a child, lightning struck near her and she became blind as a result of being exposed to the light.
It appears that Sadoichi was in fact a master of iaijutsu, so skilled that he was said to be able to cut a wooden box in half with a single blow. In his later years, he is said to have stayed with Iioka Sukegoro, who had territories in Asahi and Choshi cities at the time.
The most compelling elements of Katsu’s Zatoichi are his lightning-fast iaido swordplay and spectacular fighting moves. The blind Ichi’s hidden sword cane, reverse-hand sword techniques, and sword fighting under special conditions create a unique style.
The secret to Zatoichi’s sword fighting techniques is to rely on sound (hearing) and smell (olfaction), first tilting his head slightly as if listening carefully, and then striking with intuition. In Katsu’s case, the secret to drawing the sword from its sheath and cutting it instantly lies in the turning of his wrist, which is said to be a reflection of his background in traditional Japanese dance.
There is also a secret in the timing; by concentrating his nerves and taking exquisite timing, the viewer holds their breath, knowing “Now it’s time.”
Zatoichi then cuts his opponents in an instant, and they take their last breath and fall with a thud. Hearing this sound, he slowly and calmly sheathes his sword into its hidden cane. The transition from stillness to lightning-fast action, and then back to stillness with a lingering echo, is the ultimate visualization of what is known in kendo as “zanshin (残心).”
In the Edo period, many people with disabilities faced discrimination and were placed in difficult situations due to the strict feudal class system and social prejudice. However, although there was no modern-day systematic welfare system, there were various mechanisms and initiatives to support people with disabilities in society and culture.
For example, a culture based on a spirit of mutual help, in which neighbors naturally supported each other, was deeply rooted in local communities, and it was common for families, neighborhoods, and villages to work together to support people with disabilities.
In addition, temples were not simply religious facilities; they also played a welfare role, with facilities such as medicine dispensaries (施薬院) and sanatoriums (療養院) established to support the poor and people with disabilities.
Furthermore, to enable people with disabilities to remain independent and work, support was provided to help them become self-sufficient, particularly for those with visual impairments, who could choose skilled occupations such as masseuses and acupuncturists, which allowed them to use their manual senses.
Sugiyama Waichi (杉山和一, 1610-1694) is considered the founder of modern acupuncture and moxibustion. Sugiyama became a kengyo at the age of 61, and around 1680, in the early Edo period, in accordance with the Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s order to promote acupuncture, he opened the Sugiyama School of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (杉山流鍼治導引稽古所), the world’s first educational facility for the visually impaired, where he taught acupuncture and massage techniques, and produced many excellent acupuncturists and masseurs.
The Sugiyama-ryu Acupuncture and Doin Training Center was divided into four stages and provided systematic education.
1. Initial Education (up to approximately 18 years old):
Basic education of three years each in massage and acupuncture (six years total). The textbook was the Sugiyama Sanbusho (杉山三部書).
2. Intermediate Education (up to approximately 28 years old):
Training to the technical level of the current Kanshin Method (管鍼法). The textbook was primarily the “Omote no Maki” (表の巻) of the Sugiyama Shinden-ryu.
Kanshin Method is a method of relieving pain devised by Sugiyama. It is a type of acupuncture treatment in which needles are inserted into acupoints using thin tubes. By inserting needles into specific locations, the flow of qi is regulated and various symptoms are alleviated. Types are classified based on various criteria, such as the material of the needle tube, length, tip shape, and insertion method.
3. Late Education (up to approximately 32 years old):
Education to the level where one can teach Sugiyama-ryu acupuncture to others. The textbook was the first scroll of the Sugiyama Shinden-ryu Catalogue (杉山真伝流目録), and at the end of the course, students were given a copy of the “Disciple Shinmon-cho (門人神文帳).”
4. Final Education (up to approximately 50 years old):
One volume of the Sugiyama Shinden-ryu Secret Techniques (杉山真伝流秘伝一巻) was imparted.
While Zatoichi likely did not belong to this organization, the name “zato” comes from the lowest rank of the Todoza (当道座), a hierarchical professional organization for the blind (visually impaired) that existed from the Middle Ages to the Edo period.
1. Kengyo (検校)
2. Betto (別当)
3. Koto (勾当)
4. Zato (座頭)
These four ranks were further subdivided into 73 ranks, which were official positions recognized by the Edo Shogunate.
High-ranking officials such as Kengyo and Betto were responsible for managing the Todoza and negotiating with the shogunate to secure profits, while lower-ranking zato worked in the streets, performing biwa (Japanese lute), acupuncture, massage, and other practical occupations.
The Todoza as an organization had already existed in Kyoto since the Muromachi period, but in the Edo period, Tokugawa Ieyasu authorized the practice of high-interest loans called “zatokin (座頭金)” in order to create an ideal city and to enable kengyo and betto to provide living expenses and employment funds for their zato, and the shogunate used the profits from interest earned by the Todoza as a source of tax revenue.
The zatokin system was a great success, and the huge profits and power gained from the usury lending business came to be concentrated in the hands of certain kengyo, who gradually gained more influence over the shogunate and samurai (hatamoto and gokenin), which is said to have led to various distortions and conflicts within the Todo-za and in the shogunate government.
In particular, Toriyama Kengyo (鳥山検校, 1744 – year of death unknown) is said to have not only been the boss of musicians and blind acupuncturists, but also amassed enormous wealth through the use of loan sharks (zatokin), and brought samurai such as hatamoto and daimyo, as well as merchants, under his control, gaining enough power to influence the shogunate and its policies.
As the senior councilor (老中), Tanuma Okitsugu (田沼意次, 1719-1788), promoted economic policies, developed commerce, and stabilized the shogunate’s finances, he initially overlooked restrictions on zatokin as part of financial activities. However, as samurai gradually became more reliant on zatokin, they fell into debt traps, which began to affect the shogunate’s governance. Tanuma began cracking down on zatokin and punished Toriyama Kengyo. (See the Toriyama-Segawa Incident, 鳥山瀬川事件.)
Tanuma’s economic policies brought about commercial development, but bribery and political corruption led to growing discontent. His son, Okitomo (意知), was assassinated in Edo Castle in 1784, and with the death of Shogun Ieharu (家治) in 1786, Tanuma was forced to resign. Subsequently, the Kansei Reforms (寛政の改革, 1787-1793), led by Matsudaira Sadanobu (松平定信, 1759-1829), were launched, shifting to policies of tighter monetary policy, frugality, and an agricultural focus. They also strengthened controls on usury, including zatokin, and moved samurai toward less reliance on debt.
Incidentally, the origins of the Kengyo date back to the Heian period, when Prince Saneyasu (人康), the fourth son of Emperor Ninmyo (仁明天皇), became blind at a young age and retired to gather other blind people and teach them biwa, music, poetry, etc. Blind biwa priests (琵琶法師) are said to have first appeared in the mid-Heian period, but even into the Kamakura period, biwa priests continued to play important oral literature, performing works such as The Tale of the Heike (平家物語), known for its opening line, “The sound of the bell at Gion-shoja is the echo of the impermanence of all things.” (祇園精舍の鐘の声、諸行無常の響きあり。)
While the Todoza was a group of male visually impaired people, female visually impaired people belonged to an organization called “Goze (瞽女),” and were traveling entertainers who traveled around the country with their shamisen, and are said to have already existed in the Muromachi period (1336-1573, aka the middle ages).
Goze entertained audiences primarily with their performances at the entrances of private homes, known as “kadozuke (門付け),” and at festivals by singing war tales such as the Tale of the Heike and the Tale of the Soga clan, as well as Goze songs (瞽女歌) with their unique tone of voice and melodies. They also sang celebratory and funeral songs at ceremonial occasions.
In an era before radio and television, the performing arts of these traveling entertainers were mainstream and in demand, and were said to have been particularly welcome in rural areas with little entertainment. They were busiest during New Year’s and festivals, and were also called upon for celebrations and rain-making ceremonies.
In other words, although the means by which visually impaired people could become independent and earn a living were limited, they had the option of pursuing a career in massage or performing arts.
However, during the Edo period, traveling performers were often forced to endure harsh living conditions, due to frequent headwinds such as frugality orders from various feudal domains that deprived peasants of the opportunity to enjoy performing arts, laws prohibiting free travel, and restrictions on touring.
There are several schools of goze, the most famous being the Nagaoka Goze and Takada Goze of Echigo (Niigata), and while discipline varied depending on the organization, they were all said to follow strict rules.
New goze apprentice under a master goze until the end of their training period, which is said to last around 10 to 20 years, during which they devote themselves to honing their skills and serving their master. Once their training period is over, they are recognized as full-fledged and are allowed to take on new apprentices. There was a hierarchy among apprentices, with those with the longer training periods being considered senior apprentices, and younger apprentices were required to obey them unconditionally.
Although it may be considered feudal in modern times, it was also the most rational and sophisticated custom for women with disabilities to gain independence, unite, and obtain and protect the benefits they needed to survive.
The training of goze women was rigorous, and as their job was to sell their art, they were strictly disciplined in everything from language to etiquette in their daily lives, and were particularly required to master singing and shamisen.
To meet the demands of their customers, they were required to master as many songs as possible, including danmono (段物) that performed with unique voices and melodies, kuchisake (口裂け), tokiwazu (常磐津), kiyomoto (清元), tanuta (田唄), nagauta (長唄), folk songs (民謡), and popular songs. This required diligence and passion, and while many were said to have dropped out due to the difficulty of the training, some became popular thanks to their excellent voices and remarkable memories, memorizing many songs.
The peasants, who lacked entertainment, warmly welcomed the goze troupe on their annual visits, affectionately calling them gozesa or gozenbo, and in return the goze constantly attended to the peasants’ tastes, deepening their bonds with each other through song. Furthermore, for farmers who had no exposure to information from other regions, even trivial tales of travel were of great interest, and they enjoyed listening to songs and tales of their travels around the country until late into the night.
In addition, the farmers are said to have regarded the goze as objects of folk worship, viewing them as sacred visitors who bestow good deeds on the poor, bestow benefits, raise children, hatch silkworms, and encourage the germination of rice and wheat, as well as comfort and hold memorial services for the spirits of the dead.
Goze tours were planned and meticulously carried out, following predetermined schedules and routes. Usually, several groups formed by master and disciple would gather together, and with a sighted person at the front, the goze would walk in a vertical line, traveling over a wide area, including far-flung regions. The size of the tours is said to have varied depending on the era and region, from a few people to a dozen or so.
Since goze troupes travel long distances and for extended periods performing door-to-door, a regular lodging is essential, so villages welcomed them by providing lodging and, after the performance, assigning guides to escort them to the next village. Accommodations provided by landowners and wealthy people were known as goze lodgings (瞽女宿, gozeyado).
Those goze who broke the rules were banished and forced to live alone, and they were called hagure-goze (はぐれ瞽女)、hanare-goze (はなれ瞽女)、hazure-goze (はずれ瞽女).
Mizukami Tsutomu’s (水上勉, 1919-2004) novel, “Hanare Goze Orin” (はなれ瞽女おりん, 1975), was made into a film in 1977, directed by Shinoda Masahiro and starring Iwashita Shima.
As an aside, the apprenticeship system was once common in most industries in Japan, and there are still some occupations and fields of expertise that follow it, with family traditions, customs, and spirituality being passed down to the next generation.
Incidentally, the reason why many of the protagonists of double suicide stories in Kabuki plays by Chikamatsu and others feature merchant’s apprentices (手代, tedai) is because of the following circumstances: despite being in the prime of adolescence, they are still apprentices with limited freedom, and even if they are lucky enough to be promoted to head clerk (番頭, bantou), it is still a long way off.
In any case, during the Edo period, visually impaired people were given the opportunity to belong to an autonomous organization called the Todo-za, which was officially recognized by the shogunate, and which guaranteed them exclusive rights in certain professions such as biwa, shamisen, acupuncture, and massage, providing members with a stable livelihood. Moreover, the higher-ranking kengyo were not simply professional ranks, but also enjoyed social and economic authority and status equivalent to that of a daimyo with a fief of around 5 million koku, and they also had influence over the daimyo family and the shogunate.
In other words, the kengyo system was a highly formalized system that assigned clear ranks and professional roles to a specific group with a specific disability, the visually impaired, while also recognizing and guaranteeing individual rights and dignity. This means that during the Edo period, there were some systems in place to help people with disabilities gain independence and freedom.
Meanwhile, in Western Europe during the same period, attitudes toward people with disabilities were said to have been a complex mixture of curiosity, entertainment, and charity, as well as religious interpretations that viewed disability as a divine mark or punishment.
For example, it is said that disabled people were employed at the Spanish Habsburg court, but this was due to the personal interests of individual royals or the balance of power within the court, and was an informal form of permission to enter the court that depended mainly on personal relationships with their patrons, and not because the social status, personal rights, or dignity of disabled people were recognized.
Returning to the original topic, Zatoichi’s journey, in which he stuck to his beliefs and traveled alone from place to place despite the disadvantage of being blind, could also be said to be a journey that testifies to his own freedom.
Moreover, if there is a destiny that is predetermined at birth, Zatoichi confronts it, and based on his compassion and humanity, he becomes an ally of people in similarly vulnerable circumstances, even sacrificing himself to extend a helping hand so that they can maintain their freedom as human beings. There is not a trace of pessimism or nihilism in this, and one could say that there is a Dionysian vitality and dynamism to life that Nietzsche spoke of.
Liberty or freedom refers to making choices according to one’s own will and nature without being coerced, restrained, or controlled, and takes many forms, such as freedom of action, freedom of thought, and the right to self-determination.
Since ancient times, people have always been faced with the challenge of achieving freedom, which has been a reflection of the fundamental concerns of humanity and social structures of each era, based on social conditions, religious domination, state and community systems, individual dignity, and human rights.
In ancient Greece, citizenship in a city-state (polis) was associated with freedom, as it signified that one was not controlled by others as a slave, and that one’s rights as a free citizen were guaranteed and respected. In this way, there are many instances in history where freedom has been considered in contrast to domination.
For Aristotle (384-322 BC), freedom meant using reason to control desires and choose virtuous actions, and he believed that living solely according to impulse was not freedom but rather slavery.
In other words, Aristotle’s view of freedom was something like the right of citizens to participate politically and the ability to act autonomously, and the key points can be seen as follows:
1. Actions originate within oneself, and one chooses what to do for oneself.
2. The habit of repeatedly practicing virtue and right behavior produces virtue.
3. Make an effort to choose the right path through reason, rather than being swayed by emotion.
In medieval Europe, the Christian worldview came to dominate, and freedom came to mean living righteously within God’s order. This was an era in which religious and inner freedom, such as liberation from sin or evil and corruption, was emphasized, rather than liberation from the rule of kings or the feudal system.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a French philosopher and composer who led a turbulent life, was transformed when his prize-winning essay, The Social Contract (1762), which envisioned a society in which freedom and equality are realized as the natural state, and which included a description of the will striving to achieve this as the “general will.” This essay would go on to have a major influence on the ideas that later led to the French Revolution and the American War of Independence.
In the same year, Rousseau wrote a novel-style book, Emile (1762), in which he developed his educational theory on how children should be educated in order to raise people who will realize and support the free and equal society he preached in The Social Contract, and also presented his innovative liberal religious views.
At a time when Christianity held great authority, Emile was seen as a dangerous idea that posed a threat to the church, and as a controversial work, it was banned and an arrest warrant was issued. Rousseau escaped the danger and lived in exile, moving from place to place in Switzerland, England, and other countries.
Rousseau’s ideal of true freedom was the ability to participate in the general will and create one’s own community. However, the reality he faced was that “humans are born free, but they are bound by society in chains.”
Kant (1724-1804) defined freedom as autonomy, obeying moral laws established by one’s own reason, rather than by others or one’s emotions.
British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) argued that state power that interferes with individual freedom is justified only in cases where it causes actual harm to others, and that all other personal actions are always guaranteed. This is because, for civilization to develop, individuality, diversity, and genius must be protected.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) argued that the economic structure of capitalist society reduces wage workers to exploited status, greatly affecting individual freedom, and that true freedom includes not only liberation from the domination of others, but also liberation from the constraints imposed by material and economic conditions.
According to Michel Foucault (1926-1984), within the interdependence of power and freedom, freedom is the ability to understand power, resist it when necessary, and find new forms of action and self-expression in relation to it.
Foucault’s concept of freedom also includes the relationship between self-control and freedom, which relates to the internal challenge of how to control and shape oneself. When one is able to manage one’s desires and actions through self-control, one gains the freedom to choose one’s own path without being influenced by external powers or norms. In other words, freedom is a process that asks how one shapes and disciplines oneself within discipline.
In Japanese, freedom is written as jiyuu (自由), which means following one’s own (自) free will (由), and is also related to the concept of a free person (自在人, jizainin), who is able to act as one wishes without being bound by anything.
It could be said that this means that freedom of choice is valued and respected.
On the other hand, people are often forced to make choices that unavoidably require the sacrifice of others for the sake of ultimate ends or the realization of certain ends, resulting in tensions and conflicts between multiple values that cannot be reduced to a single standard, such as wealth and virtue, knowledge and happiness, efficiency and fairness, justice and charity, the demands of art and the demands of society.
Since freedom and equality, fairness and efficiency reflect different attitudes and values, in other words, the existence of multiple values may be what makes freedom valuable.
According to Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997), there are two concepts of freedom.
1. Negative freedom (freedom from ):
This refers to the absence of external interference with individual behavior.
2. Positive freedom (freedom to):
This refers to the ability to act autonomously to realize higher values, such as goals and aspirations.
Attempts to promote positive freedom may lead to restrictions on negative freedom, and these two types of freedom may come into conflict. For example, negative freedom may be eroded if certain elites or social groups rhetorically abuse positive freedom to promote a transition to a totalitarian form of government based on rationalistic forms of collective control and discipline within the state, class, or community. Thus, individual autonomy may be essential to positive freedom. Thus, positive freedom requires autonomy in accordance with reason, as Kant puts it, without falling into the indulgence of desire.
In any case, the essence of freedom can be said to be related to responsibility, self-determination, choice, and constraints. For example, the ability to take responsibility, the freedom to choose from meaningful options requires a willingness to accept the consequences, and the fact that unlimited freedom can sometimes be curtailed to protect the freedom of others.
On the other hand, the loss or lack of freedom can occur when the power to choose for oneself is taken away, due to dictatorship, violence, peer pressure, ignorance, dependency, fear, surveillance, or control.
In this sense, since human behavior is influenced by various factors, such as biological and social constraints, past experiences, and cultural background, absolute freedom may not exist in reality. However, even within such limited freedom, if each individual retains the ability to choose the behavior they desire, this can be said to be based on free will and can serve as the psychological foundation for self-responsibility and moral behavior.
Free will means the ability to intentionally make one’s own choices and take action without external coercion, but satisfying the three basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness increases intrinsic motivation and enables one to truly act of one’s own will. Acting based on free will is said to enhance one’s sense of happiness and performance as a person. Conversely, behavior that relies on extrinsic motivation such as rewards and punishment is said to undermine autonomy and reduce intrinsic motivation.
In short, the sense of self-choice based on free will may lead us to carve out our own future, take responsibility for our failures, and value our successes.
The concept of freedom has changed depending on the social structure and values of each era, but in the current situation, due to the transition to a strict surveillance society brought about by digital technology based on globalism, it can be said that individuals are being placed in a situation where, while they appear to be enjoying freedom, they are actually being restricted from many directions, as if freedom were a social illusion.
In fact, the global digital ID currently being introduced using smartphones is a system that tracks, scores, and restricts every individual’s behavior by linking it to government records, bank accounts, financial data, professional qualifications, medical information such as vaccination history, biometric authentication, and compliance status. Its core concept is “convergence.”
The World Bank calls this “financial inclusion,” the WHO calls it “health security,” and the United Nations calls it “sustainable development,” but the concept is the same.
Psychological conditioning, such as predictive programming, to prepare people for global digital IDs is already underway, with airlines, for example, preparing to allow passengers to use digital IDs on their smartphones.
While digital IDs may bring convenience, there is also a strong possibility that they could infringe on each individual’s free will by providing a variety of customized options designed to guide people toward desired outcomes, or that they could be used to use social pressure to exclude opposing views or dissenters, thereby depriving people of their freedom. This means that in the near future, both freedom of action and inner freedom may be restricted and controlled.
Zatoichi sensed freedom while traveling amidst obstacles and restrictions on his movements, and he also deeply connected with the vulnerable people he met, fought to free them from harsh bondage, knowing that it would put him in harm’s way for their freedom, and left that place.
If the predicted constraints and controls based on digitalization become a reality in the near future, it will be essential to at least maintain the “freedom within constraints” that allows us to make positive choices and increase our sense of well-being.
In that sense, it may be time for each individual to understand the essence of the multifaceted concept of freedom, and to view it not as a mere liberating feeling, but as a concept of responsible choices tied to society and the future, and as an element that leads to building a highly satisfying life and self-actualization, and to act accordingly.
Sincerely grateful for your financial support.
Sources and references:
Global digital ID has been tested and will be showcased to policymakers next week
EU collaborates with foreign governments on digital ID
Your Borders Turn Biometric: New Face & Fingerprint Checks Nobody Voted For
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Millions Sign Petition to Dismantle UK Digital ID System
