Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Zatoichi on the Road

Zatoichi on the Road

The itinerant Zatoichi comes across a dying man, who begs the masseur to escort a young woman back to her family in Edo. The honorable swordsman agrees, but in so doing, he catapults himself between two warring yakuza clans, each with its own interest in kidnapping the girl.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1963
  • 87 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • Japanese

Available In

Collector's Set

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Blu-ray Box Set

9 Discs

$159.96

Zatoichi on the Road
Cast
Shintaro Katsu
Zatoichi
Shiho Fujimura
Omitsu
Ryuzo Shimada
Jingoro
Reiko Fujiwara
Ohisa
Matasaburo Niwa
Yamada
Yoshio Yoshida
Boss Tomegoro
Sonosuke Sawamura
Boss Tobei
Shosaku Sugiyama
Boss Hikozo
Yutaka Nakamura
Matsu
Gen Kimura
Yakuza enforcer
Credits
Director
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Produced by
Ikuo Kubodera
Original story by
Kan Shimozawa
Screenplay
Minoru Inuzuka
Cinematography
Shozo Honda
Edited by
Kanji Suganuma
Original music
Akira Ifukube
Art direction
Yoshinobu Nishioka

Current

Tony Rayns on the Meaning of Zatoichi
Tony Rayns on the Meaning of Zatoichi

Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns unpacks the significance of Zatoichi’s name and the strict social hierarchy that the character so gleefully upends.

On the Road with Zatoichi
On the Road with Zatoichi

He massages, he gambles, and he’s great with a blade. Who is this blind swordsman, anyway?

By Geoffrey O'Brien