found: Work cat.: Shin Zatōichi monogatari. Oreta tsue [VR], 2004(title on container: Zatoichi in desperation; series title: Samurai cinema)
found: Shin Zatōichi. Yabure! Tojin-ken [VR], 2004(title on container: Zatoichi meets the one-armed swordsman; series title: Samurai cinema)
found: Wikipedia, Aug. 6, 2008(Zatoichi (Japanese: 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. A total of 26 films were made from 1962 to 1974, with the 26th film being released in 1989. From 1972 to 1974, a television series of the same name was made. ... 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"; see also: Samurai cinema)
found: AnimEigo Web site, Aug. 6, 2008:Samurai Films: Zatoichi (films in the Zatoichi series; Zatoichi films; Katsu Shintaro stars as the lovable rogue Zato-ichi, the blind masseur whose senses are so finely tuned that lack of sight is the least of his problems. As he wanders around Japan, he's always blindly stumbling into situations that force him to unsheath his sword and lay into a bunch of no-good ruffians. He may not be able to see them coming, but he's usually the last thing they ever see...)
found: New York times movie review of Zato-ichi to Yojimbo (1970), viewed Aug. 6, 2008(Zato-ichi to Yojimbo. Alternate title: Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo. One of many Japanese samurai films starring the blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu))
