Zatoichi on the Road (Zatoichi kenka-tabi)
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Written by Minoru Inuzuka from a story by Kan Shimozawa
1963/Japan
Daiei Studios
First viewing/FilmStruck
[box] Zatôichi: Using an innocent woman as bait – Unscrupulous coward! None of you deserves to live.[/box]
Further proof that these Zatoichi movies can do no wrong!
Having been bribed with fine food, Blind Ichi is on his way to visit a yakuza boss. On the way he meets up with a young maiden on her way back to wealthy parents in Edo. She is worth quite a bit of ransom and attracts the attentions of many different assailants with whom Zatoichi must do battle.
This is the fifth fine entry in the series of 26 films. It has one of the more coherent plots. I highly recommend giving these a try to anyone willing to believe that a kindly blind masseur can dispatch twenty heavily-armed attackers with his cane sword in 30 seconds flat. This is surprisingly easy to do!
