Japan Synopsis
座頭市物語
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with The Tale of Zatoichi. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
7 sharedThe Tale of Zatoichi Continues
★ 6.9 · Japan
6 sharedLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
★ 7.3 · Japan
6 sharedLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades
★ 7.2 · Japan
6 sharedBaragaki: Unbroken Samurai
★ 6.3 · Japan
5 sharedLone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
★ 7.5 · Japan
5 sharedLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril
★ 7.4 · Japan
Other Titles From Daiei Film
Adventure + Action in Japan
1030 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Adventure and Action genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Tale of Zatoichi itself).
The 1961–1963 Japan Window
The Tale of Zatoichi holds position #14 of 44 Japan films in the 1961–1963 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1960s in Japan, 202 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Tale of Zatoichi premiered alongside 18 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 18 other Japan films in 1962.
The 155th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
110 audience reviews — more than 78% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (78th percentile) outruns trending popularity (54th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on The Tale of Zatoichi, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- criminal · 27
- zatoichi · 21
- ronin · 18
- chanbara · 14
- chambara · 12
- japan · 454
- samurai · 128
- jidaigeki · 61
- sword fight · 56
- period drama · 37
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,752 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (62nd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.3 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Adventure productions specifically: #643 of 1,216 (top 53%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Daiei Film |
| Runtime | 1h 36m |
| Release Date | April 18, 1962 |
| IMDb | tt0056714 |