Exclusive : Japanese Tap dance from the movie “Zatoichi”
We often think that tap dancing is mainly practiced by Americans and Europeans, and forget that we can also find tap dancers in Asia. The movie Zatoichi is Japan’s longest series of films (26) and is also the name of the principal character called Zatoichi, who is a blind masseur and gambler. His real name is actually Ichi (Zato meaning blind in Japanese slang) and is skilled in swordmanship.
The first movie Zatoichi was released in 1962, the last in 1989, and 4 seasons of television series ran between 1974 and 1979. In 2003, Takeshi Kitano realized a new movie with a different principal character and this tap dancing scene ends the movie.
In the scene, we can notice the tap dancing shoes designed with sandals and a material for the heel and the sole. Ingenious.
