| Zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of | | | | stick. It was sometimes worn by government |
| Japan's longest running series of films and a television | | | | officials in Japan in the Meiji period. |
| series set in the Edo period. The great popularity of | | | | |
| the character has been likened to that of James | | | | The name Shikomizue is actually the name of a type |
| Bond in Western countries. Yet, Zatoichi has become | | | | of mounting, the sword blade was placed in a |
| commonly associated with one actor: Shintaro Katsu. | | | | cane-like mounting (tsue), to conceal the fact that it |
| The only other actor to portray Zatoichi in the | | | | was a sword. This cheat was used almost exclusively |
| movies is Takeshi Kitano, after a pause of almost 15 | | | | during the Meiji period, when carrying of swords |
| years. | | | | wasn't allowed. The blades used in these mountings |
| | | | were usually of poor quality. |
| Zatoichi seems to be just a harmless blind masseur | | | | |
| who rambles around Japan getting a living by gaming. | | | | This type of trick was most often used at the time |
| But he is also extremely skilful in swordsmanship | | | | when samurais who disagree with the prohibition on |
| (iaijutsu), his blade concealed inside his cane. Cane | | | | carrying their swords in an open manner but knew |
| swords, or shikomizue, were straight, lower-quality | | | | that obvious violation of the law usually led to |
| weapons, which stood no comparison with usual | | | | incarceration and miserable death. |
| katanas, but as revealed in Zatoichi's Cane Sword, his | | | | |
| weapon was created very meticulously by a master | | | | It is the sword used by the fictional character |
| swordsmith. A recurring theme of both the movies | | | | Zatoichi, a blind masseur. It has also appeared a few |
| and television series show Zatoichi protecting the | | | | times in the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin. |
| villagers from cruel warring clans fighting for | | | | In another anime series, Bleach, Kisuke Urahara's |
| overlordship and general injustice. | | | | zanpakutou is a shikomizue, when not in shikai form. |
| | | | James Peterson is a true swords lover. To read |
| The Shikomizue (Japanese prepared cane) is a | | | | more articles about swords and swords history visit |
| Japanese hidden sword looking like a cane or walking | | | | the Swords blog - Sharpblades.net. |