Tange Sazen
The one-eyed, one-armed swordsman Tange Sazen (丹下 左膳) is a fictional character in Japanese literature, cinema and TV. The loyal SÅma clan samurai Tange Samanosuke is attacked and mutilated as the result of a betrayal, losing his right eye and right arm. He then begins to lead the life of a nihilistic ronin, using the pseudonym Sazen.
Development
Tange Sazen first appeared in a serial by FubÅ Hayashi (æž—ä¸å¿˜ Hayashi FubÅ) which ran from October 1927 to May 1928 in the Mainichi Shimbun. The story concerned the exploits of ÅŒoka Echizen, and Tange Sazen was a minor character. But his strikingly dramatic appearance, with a scar across his right eye and an empty right sleeve, as embodied in illustrations by Tomiya Oda (å°ç”°å¯Œå¼¥ Oda Tomiya), so caught the imagination of the public that within a few months three films of Tange's adventures were produced by different companies. The most popular of these movies was that directed by Daisuke ItÅ at Nikkatsu, starring DenjirÅ ÅŒkÅchi (大河内傳次郎 ÅŒkÅchi DenjirÅ). As a result of the success of these films, Hayashi wrote a new serial, Tange Sazen, with Tange as the hero. This initially ran in the Mainichi Shimbun from June to October 1933, but internal strife at the newspaper led to the interruption of publication and the serial eventually resumed in the Yomiuri Shimbun from January 1934. In this story, Tange developed from the nihilistic character he had been in the first novel to a doughty fighter against injustice. The film The Million Ryo Pot featured ÅŒkÅchi playing a comic Tange. ÅŒkÅchi is the actor most identified with Tange in the cinema, but many others have played the role, including TsumasaburÅ BandÅ, RyÅ«tarÅ ÅŒtomo, RyÅ«nosuke Tsukigata, Kinnosuke Nakamura, and TetsurÅ Tanba.[1] Komako Hara also played a female Sazen in a couple of films in 1937.[2]
In literature
- The Mysterious Sword aka lit. The Magic Sword (丹下左膳　妖刀濡れ燕) (1960)[3]
- Mentioned in the manga Deadman Wonderland.
In films
- Tange Sazen: Hyakuman ryÅ no tsubo (2004)[4] played by Toyokawa Etsushi
- Onna Sazen (One-Eyed, One-Armed Swordswoman) (1968) [5] with Michiyo Okusu as "O-kin", the female "Sazen"
- Onna Sazen: Nuretsubame Katate Giri (Lady Sazen and the Drenched Swallow Sword) (1969) with Michiyo Okusu
- Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri (The Secret of the Urn) (1966)[6] played by Nakamura Kinnosuke
- Tange Sazen Nuretsubame IttÅryÅ« (Tange Sazen and the Princess) (1961) played by ÅŒtomo RyÅ«tarÅ
- Tange Sazen YÅtÅ Nuretsubame (The Mysterious Sword) (1960)[7] played by ÅŒtomo RyÅ«tarÅ
- Tange Sazen doto-hen (The Mystery of the Twin Dragons) (1959)[8] played by ÅŒtomo RyÅ«tarÅ
- Tange Sazen (1958)[9] played by ÅŒtomo RyÅ«tarÅ
- Onna Sazen (女左膳) (Lady Sazen) (1937), played by Hara Komako as "Lady Sazen"
- Tange Sazen Yowa - HyakumanryŠNo Tsubo (The Million Ryo Pot) (1935)[10] played by Ôkôchi Denjirô
See also
References
- ↑ Tachibana, Yoshiharu (7 December 2000). "Eiga kantoku Yamanaka Sadao sakuhin kenkyū". Image Library. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ↑ "Onna Sazen: Dai ippen, yÅka no maki". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ↑ The Mysterious Sword, accessed 20 May 2009.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486212/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978679/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171812/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201350/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200197/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0227488/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027076/