Zatoichi's Conspiracy (1973)
"Shin Zatôichi monogatari: Kasama no chimatsuri" (original title)

Zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds.

Director:

Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Writers:

Yoshi Hattori (screenplay), Kan Shimosawa (story)

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Yukiyo Toake, Eiji Okada

Cast

Credited cast:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatôichi / Blind Man Ichi
Yukiyo Toake	...	Miyo
Eiji Okada	...	Shinbei of Hitachiya
Kei Satô	...	Magistrate
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Superintendant Shobei
Shirô Kishibe	...	Ruffian
Rie Yokoyama	...	Yuri / Lily
Tatsuo Endô	...	Boss Iwagoro
Takashi Shimura	...	Sakubei
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Naoyuki Asahina
Tamoisu Fujiharu
Takaji Fukui
Takamori Gen
Yuuji Hamada
Kuniko Ishii	...	Virgin farmgirl

Storyline

Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. He is befriended by Omiyo, who had the same wet-nurse as Zatoichi. He also encounters a boyhood friend, Shinbei, who now is wealthy and appears not to remember Zatoichi. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers' debts, but is in reality manipulating the ownership of a now-valuable rock quarry. Zatoichi learns of the subterfuge and confronts his old friend, who has a score of yakuza swordsmen backing his play.

---

Plot Keywords:

sequel | zatoichi | martial arts | character name in title

---

Genres:

Action | Drama

---

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

15 April 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zatoichi's Conspiracy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Katsu Production Co. Ltd., Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Not only the last Zatôichi film produced by Toho Company Ltd., but also the last of the "old school" Zatôichi films.

---

Connections

Follows Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968)

User Reviews

Another solid entry in the series

Zatoichi's Conspiracy has our hero returning to his hometown and making the acquaintance of his "sister", a young orphan raised by the same old woman who raised Zatoichi. The bad guy is an official who also grew up in the same village and was a childhood friend of Zatoichi. He appears to be befriending the village by paying off their tax debt, but lays claim to the village quarry, which serves as the only source of income besides farming. A high point of this film is the appearance of Takashi Shimura, the hero of many Kurosawa films including Seven Samurai, as the guardian of Zatoichi's new-found sister. The ending is a little bit of a copout as Zatoichi struggles to decide whether he can bring himself to kill his old friend. A solid entertaining entry to the series.