Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964)

After being wounded in a fight, Zatoichi is nursed to health by a young woman and her father. Now indebted to the family, he works to protect their ferry business from local thugs.

Director:

Kazuo Ikehiro

Writers:

Shôzaburô Asai, Minoru Inuzuka

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Tatsuo Endô, Takashi Etajima

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Tatsuo Endô	...	Boss Yasugoro of Takeya
Takashi Etajima	...	Seiroku
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryûtarô Gomi
Bokuzen Hidari	...	Kyubei
Ryôsuke Kagawa	...	Boss Bunkichi
Jun Katsumura	...	Yasugoro yakuza
Naoko Kubo	...	Kuni
Ikuko Môri	...	Yasugora's sister
Mayumi Nagisa	...	Shizu
Yutaka Nakamura	...	Mekichi
Koh Sugita
Teruko Ômi	...	Mine

Storyline

Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a debt, now feels further indebted. He commits himself to use his amazing sword skills to help the young woman's father, whose river-crossing service is under attack by the same gang responsible for Zatoichi's wounds.

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Plot Keywords:

shot in the back | zatoichi | gang | blind | cult film | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 July 1964 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Zatoichi's Flashing Sword

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Motion Picture Company, Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Zatoichi: In the dark, the advantage is mine. It turns you all into blind men.

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Connections

Followed by Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)

User Reviews

Disappointing Masseur Ichi

Not one of the highlights of the series, Zatoichi's Flashing Sword simply doesn't display enough of Ichi's skills. There's very little action and what there is is brief. The story itself feels padded out, even at a brisk 82 minutes, and one gets the feeling Daiei was simply trying to turn out as many films as possible to capitalise on the character's popularity. It's not bad, merely disappointing.