biwamaru

Biwamaru is a blind, itinerant acupuncture doctor who roams Japan, healing various ailments with astonishing speed. He appears extremely disheveled, dressed in tattered clothes, walking with a twisted stick as a cane, and carrying a rough bundle on his back. Like Black Jack, Biwamaru operates as an unlicensed doctor; his methods are seen as quackery by the medical establishment, while he views surgery as barbaric. Similar to Dr. Kiriko, Biwamaru is another adversary who bears too much resemblance to Black Jack for them to overlook their differences. In issue #126, "The Blind Doctor of Acupuncture" (June 7, 1976), when Biwamaru arrived in Black Jack's town, there was immediate mutual disdain, each dismissing the other as a quack despite acknowledging the effectiveness of their treatments. Complicating matters, Biwamaru provides his services free of charge, contrasting sharply with Black Jack's exorbitant fees, leading to community criticism of Black Jack. Their rivalry escalated into attempts to discredit each other, ultimately teaching them harsh lessons about the limitations of their respective methods. They met again in issue #141, "Death of Hyojisai" (The Master Forger, Two People at the Thermal Bath). At a hot spring, they discovered they both made regular pilgrimages to see the same world-famous master forger, who crafted scalpels for one and needles for the other. Learning that the forger was ill, they competed to cure him. Hyojisai used his illness to impart a lesson: despite their skills, both were powerless against fate. This experience was deeply impactful for both doctors. The trailer for the upcoming Two Dark Doctors movie suggests that scenes from this issue will be included. Notably, Biwamaru also appeared in Dororo as a blind musician and master swordsman. Here, the crippled samurai Hyakkumaru, often seen as a prototype of Black Jack, encountered Biwamaru and became his student in swordfighting, an interesting role reversal compared to his relationship with Black Jack.