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).
Up Next in Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
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New Tale of Zatoichi
ZATOICHI #3
Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka • 1963 • JapanZatoichi is back, and in color! Hoping to leave violence behind, the blind masseur wanders to a village, where he meets an old friend fallen on hard times. With a corrupt clan leader squeezing citizens dry and the brother of a past nemesis out...
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Zatoichi the Fugitive
ZATOICHI #4
Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka • 1963 • JapanZatoichi triumphs at a village wrestling match, much to the chagrin of his yakuza opponents. The defeated gang members pay a hotheaded ronin to take out the masseur; unbeknownst to them, the hired assassin is married to a former flame of Zatoi...
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Zatoichi on the Road
ZATOICHI #5
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda • 1963 • JapanThe itinerant Zatoichi comes across a dying man, who begs the masseur to escort a young woman back to her family in Edo. The honorable swordsman agrees, but in so doing, he catapults himself between two warring yakuza clans, each with its o...
