Samaritan Zatoichi (1968)
"Zatôichi kenka-daiko" (original title)

Zatoichi is tricked by a crime gang into killing a man. Realizing his mistake, he sets out to protect the dead man's sister, who is conflicted in accepting his help.

Director:

Kenji Misumi

Writers:

Kiyokata Saruwaka, Kan Shimosawa (story),

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Yoshiko Mita, Makoto Satô

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Yoshiko Mita	...	Osode
Makoto Satô	...	Yasaburo Kashiwazaki
Kô Nishimura	...	Sosuke Saruya
Takuya Fujioka	...	Shinkichi
Chôchô Miyako	...	Ohaya
Akira Shimizu	...	Kumakichi
Ryoichi Tamagawa	...	Chohachi
Machiko Soga	...	Osen
Ryûtarô Gomi	...	Sashichi
Osamu Ôkawa	...	Tokuji
Rokko Toura	...	Choji
Kazue Tamachi	...	Aburaya no Banto, the oil shop clerk (as Kazue Tamaki)
Yukio Horikita	...	Isokichi
Takeshi Date	...	Kinzo

Storyline

Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.

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Plot Keywords:

zatoichi | yakuza | sequel | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Action | Adventure

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Details

Official Sites:

Home Vision Entertainment (DVD Distributor)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

28 December 1968 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Samaritan Zatoichi

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the nineteenth "Zatoichi" feature film.

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Connections

Follows Zatoichi Challenged (1967)

User Reviews

A little different mood in this one

Here was a little glimpse into yakuza Ichi; throughout the series it is stressed that he is a yakuza; however, he behaves like a fine upstanding citizen in every other movie. In the first part of this movie, the blind massaur is one of several men sent to collect a gambling debt. It's the yakuza code...

Then, Ichi repents and takes care of the sister of his victim. I think that we see this seedy side of Ichi as a parallel to himself having to see and deal with what he has done.

This is one of the better Zatoichi movies. It broke the rules of Ichi movies EXCEPT for the woman falling in love with him. There was no child, no sword trick and no hostage rescue. I think that every series needs to break its own rules from time to time...