Released Date:
1962-04-18
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
95 min
Rated:
NOT RATED
IMDB Ratings:
7.7 (3144 Reviews)
Director:
Kenji MisumiMinoru Inuzuka (screenplay)
Kan Shimozawa (short story)
An impoverished blind masseur becomes a mercenary swordsman, to gain basic respect. The first of novelist Kan Shimozawa's Zatoichi series: 26 films, a TV series and a play, all but two starring controversial singer/producer/director Shintaro Katsu. First of six Zatoichi films directed by Kenji Misumi. The shrewd Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighboring town's smaller gang is brewing. The broke ex-masseur "Ichi" immediately wins big, by taking advantage of local bakuto's cheating, after they scoff at his asking to join a dice game. The larger horde, who have been given carte blanche by the local governor, summoned Zatoichi. Zatoichi hates the fact that he's become an outlaw, so he strikes up a friendship with the other gang's honorable hired samurai, who has TB.
Released Date:
1962-04-18
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
95 min
Rated:
NOT RATED
IMDB Ratings:
7.7 (3154 Reviews)
Director:
Kenji MisumiMinoru Inuzuka (screenplay)
Kan Shimozawa (short story)
An impoverished blind masseur becomes a mercenary swordsman, to gain basic respect. The first of novelist Kan Shimozawa's Zatoichi series: 26 films, a TV series and a play, all but two starring controversial singer/producer/director Shintaro Katsu. First of six Zatoichi films directed by Kenji Misumi. The shrewd Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighboring town's smaller gang is brewing. The broke ex-masseur "Ichi" immediately wins big, by taking advantage of local bakuto's cheating, after they scoff at his asking to join a dice game. The larger horde, who have been given carte blanche by the local governor, summoned Zatoichi. Zatoichi hates the fact that he's become an outlaw, so he strikes up a friendship with the other gang's honorable hired samurai, who has TB.
Released Date:
1963-08-10
Languages:
Japanese
Countries:
Japan
Runtime:
86 min
Rated:
NOT RATED
IMDB Ratings:
7.4 (904 Reviews)
Director:
Tokuzè TanakaSeiji Hoshikawa
Kan Shimozawa (story)
Blind swordsman/masseur Ichi (known as Zatoichi, or "Masseur Ichi") angers a local yakuza gang when he defeats several of them in a wrestling match. When he finds that his long lost love Tane is nearby and romantically involved with a tough samurai in the employ of the gang, he remains in the village. Meanwhile, the young heir to the leadership is forced to confront his own fear and weakness when the gang insists he fight Ichi.
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