Tange Sazen is a fictional swordsman featured in Japanese literature, cinema and TV. Originally a samurai 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, using the pseudonym Sazen. 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 story mainly concerned the exploits of Ōoka Echizen, 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 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 as a comic Tange. Ōkōchi is the actor most identified with Tange in the cinema, but many others have played the role.
Creators/Key Contributors Fubō Hayashi, Tomiya Oda
First Appearance Ōoka Echizen newspaper serial by Fubō Hayashi in the Mainichi Shimbun (1927-1928)
First Publisher Mainichi Shimbun
Appearance List Newspaper novels: Shinpan Ōoka Seidan: Suzukawa Genjūrō no maki (1927–1928) by Fubō Hayashi (serialized in Mainichi Shimbun group papers) — introduced Tange Sazen, Tange Sazen (1933–1934) by Fubō Hayashi (serialized in Tokyo Nichi Nichi/Osaka Mainichi Shimbun, Jun–Oct 1933; resumed in Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan 1934) — standalone Tange Sazen story. Film: Shinpan Ōoka seidan (新版大岡政談, 1928, silent), Tange Sazen (丹下左膳, 1933), Tange Sazen II: Kengeki no maki (丹下左膳 第二篇 剣戟の巻, 1934), The Million Ryō Pot (丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺, 1935; dir. Sadao Yamanaka), Tange Sazen: Nikkō no maki (丹下左膳 日光の巻, 1936), Tange Sazen: Aizō maken hen (丹下左膳 愛憎魔剣篇, 1937), Tange Sazen: Kanketsu hōkō (丹下左膳 完結咆吼篇, 1937), Shinpen Tange Sazen: Yōtō hen (新篇 丹下左膳 妖刀篇, 1938). Manga: Tange Sazen: Kokesaru no Tsubo (1954) by Osamu Tezuka.
Sample Read Tange Sazen And The Pot Worth A Million Ryo (1935) [Internet Archive]
Description Tange Sazen is a fictional swordsman featured in Japanese literature, cinema and TV. Originally a samurai 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, using the pseudonym Sazen. 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 story mainly concerned the exploits of Ōoka Echizen, 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 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 as a comic Tange. Ōkōchi is the actor most identified with Tange in the cinema, but many others have played the role.
