is a fictional swordsman featured in

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...

, cinema and TV. Originally a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

member of the Sōma clan, he is attacked and mutilated, losing his right eye and right arm. He then begins to lead the life of a

rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...

, using the pseudonym Sazen.

Development

Tange Sazen first appeared as a minor character in a newspaper serial by Fubō Hayashi, which ran from October 1927 to May 1928 in the ''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English-language news website called , and publishes a bilin ...

''. The story mainly concerned the exploits of

Ōoka Echizen is a Japanese prime-time television ''jidaigeki'' series. From March 16, 1970 to March 15, 1999, 402 episodes and 15 seasons were broadcast. Also, a two-hour special aired on March 20, 2006, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the '' Nation ...

, but the strikingly dramatic illustrations of Tange made by Tomiya Oda, with a scar across his right eye and an empty right sleeve, so caught the imagination of the public that within a few months three silent films about Tange were produced by different companies. 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 The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

'' 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 continued popularity of the character led to the production of the successful title '' Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryō'' in 1935, directed by Sadao Yamanaka and starring

Denjirō Ōkōchi was a Japanese film actor best known for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers. Early life and family Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buzen), Fukuoka Pr ...

as a comic Tange. Ōkōchi is the actor most identified with Tange in the cinema, but many others have played the role.

Film

Silent films

Sound films starring Denjirō Ōkōchi

Sound films starring other actors

Female Sazen films

There have also been made adaptations of Tange Sazen as a female character, known in Japanese as Onna Sazen (lit. ''Female Sazen'' or ''Lady Sazen'').

Television dramas

Explanatory notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Sazen Tange search listing on the IMDB
Literary characters introduced in 1927 Works originally published in Japanese newspapers Male characters in literature Jidaigeki television series