The 15th film in the Zatoichi series came out January 3 1967 with Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi. Zatoichi's Cane Sword was written by Ryozo Kasahara and directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda. The director had already directed Zatoichi On The Road and Adventures Of Zatoichi and Daimajin before this film. He'd direct three more of the Zatoichi series.
While on his usual wanderings Zatoichi gets knocked into a rice paddy by a cart with a pretty lady singing a song he'd stopped to hear. She offers him a ride and a spare kimono while his wet clothes dry. She drops him off in the town where she works at an inn. It's a Yakuza town with some creeps in charge. The henchmen extort money from the locals.
He finds a dice game to sit in on and wins some money. He leaves with it but the men in charge send some henchmen to get the money back. They attack him at a noodle shop and die for their impertinence. The diner next to him turns out to be the local blacksmith named Senzo. He invites Zatoichi to his place and they talk. The man turns out to be the apprentice of the man who made Zatoichi's cane sword.
Senzo tells Zatoichi that his cane sword has a crack in it, three inches from the handle, and the next time it gets used it will break. Zatoichi leaves only to encounter more men searching for him. He returns to the blacksmith's place and Senzo lets him stay the night. The next day he gets him a job at an inn as the masseuse.
Things go along for a while with more story coming out. Zatoichi learns that Senzo has been working on a special sword for the local Boss. Senzo asks Zatoichi for his cane sword, so he can keep it as a memento of his past mentor's work. Zatoichi leaves it with him.
Things move along in the story and we find out more of the dirty details of what the local Boss is planning. Zatoichi makes more trouble at the dice table and the Boss plans to use his skills for his own gain. We all know how poorly that will go over. Poor Senzo is killed by some unknown assassin. With his dying breath Senzo points to the closet. Zatoichi finds his Cane Sword in there and he takes it with him when he leaves.
Luckily for our blind masseur the blacksmith had changed Zatoichi's sword for the one he had been making for the Boss. Eventually things come to ahead and the baddies get some punishment for their misdeeds. I always enjoy the evil overlord being taken down a peg, and by peg I mean stabbed through the heart. Zatoichi leaves town for new adventures while the villagers reclaim their town.
The series continues to have good writing, acting and production values. The scenes are well shot and attractive to the eyes. The fights are good and there's plenty of sword play. The stories continue to be interesting even though there is a similarity to each other. And that's with me having seen most of the movies 3 or 4 times already. I'd heartedly recommend them to those that might like this kind of story.
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