Zatoichi's Cane Sword

Zatoichi's Cane Sword (座頭市鉄火旅, Zatōichi tekka-tabi) is a 1967 Japanese chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (later acquired by Kadokawa Pictures).

Zatoichi's Cane Sword
Japanese座頭市鉄火旅
HepburnZatōichi tekka-tabi
Directed byKimiyoshi Yasuda
Produced byIkuo Kubodera
Written byRyozo Kasahara
Based onZatoichi
by Kan Shimozawa
StarringShintaro Katsu
Shiho Fujimura
Eijirō Tōno
Music byIchirō Saitō
CinematographySenkichiro Takeda
Edited byToshio Taniguchi
Production
company
Daiei Studios
Release date
  • 3 January 1967 (1967-01-03) (Japan)
  • 16 August 1971 (1971-08-16) (New York)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Zatoichi's Cane Sword is the fifteenth episode in the 26-part film series devoted to the character of Zatoichi.

Plot

While travelling Zatoichi comes across a dying gangster boss called Shotaro. In a nearby town that has been overrun by gang belonging to Boss Iwagoro, Zatoichi disturbes the gangsters' gambling scam and hides away with the town's blacksmith Senzo. Senzo turns out to be the apprentice to the master swordsmith who forged Zatoichi's cane sword. Senzo spots a crack in the blade and warns that it will snap after one more kill.

At the inn where Zatoichi takes a job as a masseur, the innkeeper Gembei has taken in Shotaro's daughter Shizu and son Seikichi. Shizu wants her brother to take their father's place as the new boss and keep the evil Boss Iwagoro from taking over, but the scholarly Seikichi has no interest in the family business. During his stay at the inn Zatoichi discovers Iwagoro is in cahoots with a corrupt government official, Inspector Kuwayama.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Roger Greenspun, in a review for The New York Times, wrote that "[w]here it is quiet enough to allow Ichi his peaceful idiocyncrasies, Zato Ichi's Cane Sword is a pleasantly modest film, an amiable contrast to the fateful solemnities of the Toshiro Mifune samurai dramas. Ichi's very invulnerability makes for a certain relaxation, a few songs, a little buffoonery, and much of it to the good."[2]

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References
  1. "Zatoichi's Cane Sword". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  2. Greenspun, Roger (17 August 1971). "Film: Blind Swordsman:Hero of 'Zato Ichi' Can Overcome Any Odds". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.


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