Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (1974)

Males, both adults and children, are often shown in period underwear. As such, the rear of the garments is roughly equivalent to the modern thong, covering only the area between the buttocks.

Men are occasionally shown bathing, alone or in small groups. No sensitive parts are shown.

There are samurai-like sword fights in every episode, both duels and one against many types, often more than one per. Two dozen or more people are often killed, some dismembered. Despite all the mayhem, there is surprisingly little blood shown, and when it is, it is usually indicative rather than explicit as to the cause.

There is abundant violence in the series, much like would be expected in an American western. This is a mixture of upper crust against lower born or fighting with each other and Yakuza (the equivalent of a Japanese Mafia) against ordinary citizens, usually in contests for money and power. Women are frequent victims of all groups, often used as bargaining chips, endangered, beaten, forced into prostitution, raped, and occasionally even killed. Children are also sometimes endangered.