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Zatoichi's Cane Sword
Zatoichi's Cane Sword
Japanese name
Kanji	座頭市鉄火旅
Revised Hepburn
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Zatōichi tekka-tabi
Directed by	Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Written by	Ryozo Kasahara
Based on	Zatoichi; by Kan Shimozawa
Produced by	Ikuo Kubodera
Starring	Shintaro Katsu; Shiho Fujimura; Eijirō Tōno
Cinematography	Senkichiro Takeda
Edited by	Toshio Taniguchi
Music by	Ichirō Saitō
Production; company	Daiei Studios
Release dates	3 January 1967 (Japan); 16 August 1971 (New York);
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

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 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 disturbs 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

Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi
Shiho Fujimura as Oshizu
Eijirō Tōno as Senzo
Yoshihiko Aoyama as Seikichi
Tatsuo Endo as Boss Iwagoro
Masumi Harukawa as Oryu
Makoto Fujita as Umazo
Kiyoko Suizenji as Oharu
Masako Akeboshi as Matsu
Fujio Suga as Kuwayama^[1]

Production

Yoshinobu Nishioka - Art director

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]