ZATOICHI #2
Directed by Kazuo Mori • 1962 • Japan

THE TALE OF ZATOICHI proved so popular that a follow-up went into production the same year. Here, Zatoichi is hired to give a massage to a powerful political official who, he discovers, is mentally ill, a secret that the nobleman’s retinue is determined to keep at any cost. This second ZATOICHI film picks up the pace, featuring bigger action sequences, tighter plotting, and a mysterious one-armed swordsman played by star Shintaro Katsu’s brother Tomisaburo Wakayama (LONE WOLF AND CUB).