Kan Shimozawa

Director Takeshi Kitano takes on Japanese cinematic legend Zatoichi. Kitano stars as the blind wanderer with a distinctive red cane and a shock of platinum blonde hair. Softly-spoken, he makes a living as a masseur and by gambling, but his humble, shuffling facade masks a lightning-fast, deadly swordsman. (Miramax)

With a price on his head, Ichi seeks tranquillity in a favorite village. Since his last visit, it has fallen prey to Boss Masagoro... (imdb)

A legendary figure in Japan is Zatoichi - the blind masseur with healing hands and a swift sword.

Misumi Kenji's Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire finds the famous blind swordsman becoming mixed up with a blind but powerful gangster. The town is a brutal place where women and children are regularly available to the highest bidder. Zatoichi takes a fancy to two local women, and this causes him to earn the ire of both two local men - one of them a Yakuza. (Perry Seibert, Rovi)

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman. (imdb)

Blind masseur and master swordsman, Zatoichi, is tired of killing. He journeys to his old village looking for peace, but is pursued by the brother of Boss Kanbei, a man he's killed. Back home, Ichi connects with Banno, his teacher, who seeks prestige and has arranged for his younger sister, Yayoi, to marry into a wealthy samurai family... (imdb)

Blind swordsman/masseur Zatoichi is pursued by the retainers of a lord who fear that he will reveal a secret weakness of their master. Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love: his own brother... (imdb)

Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official. (imdb)

Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning... (imdb)

Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang... (imdb)

Zatoichi runs across a childhood comrade who has grown up to be a cruel and powerful yakuza who mercilessly steals everything the peasants have. Fortunately, the super-perceptive Zatoichi soon takes care of him and his gang. (Sandra Brennan - Rotten Tomatoes)

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father... (imdb)

Blind swordsman/masseur Ichi (known as Zatoichi, or "Masseur Ichi") angers a local yakuza gang when he defeats several of them in a wrestling match. When he finds that his long lost love Tane is nearby and romantically involved with a tough samurai in the employ of the gang, he remains in the village... (imdb)

When the legendary blind swordsman attempts to make up for his role in the death of an elderly woman by rescuing her daughter from a life of prostitution, he soon finds himself beset by deadly foes on all sides.

Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel... (imdb)

Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son... (imdb)

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen. (imdb)

Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins... (imdb)

Ichi is staying at an inn when a woman dies. Her dying wish is that Ichi take her son to his father, an artist living in a nearby town. After arriving in the town, Ichi finds out that the father has been forced by a local boss to create illegal pornography to pay off his gambling debts... (imdb)

Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past... (imdb)

In this 14th installment of the series, our reluctant warrior, Zatoichi (Katsu), is ambushed by a gang of bandits, and is forced to kill a young man in self-defense. In an odd quirk of fate, Zatoichi meets his victim's sister, Okichi (Yasuda), who attacks him in a fit of uncontrolled anger. Later, realizing that he had no choice in his actions, Okichi's conscience gets the better of her, and as she cares for Zatoichi's wounds, the two fall in love. (amazon)

Blind swordsman/masseuer Ichi (or "Zatoichi") is asked by a dying man to deliver the maiden Mitsu (or "Omitsu") to her family in Edo, and Zatoichi feels honor-bound to do so. But rival gangs each have an interest in kidnapping the girl for ransom... (imdb)

Ayase plays a blind woman who roams about town with her shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese guitar), but she has exceptional sword skills with which she fights off yakuza and other villains. (imdb)

This early Kenji Misumi picture recounts the story of a band of samurai loyal to the Shogunate, the Shinsengumi, saving Kyoto from a conspiracy of Imperialists. (imdb)

In addition to churning out crowd-pleasers like Crows Zero, Like a Dragon, and Sukiyaki Western Django, maverick director Miike Takashi also found time to return to theater in 2007. Following 2005's Demon Pond, the ever prolific Miike tries his hand at directing a stage play again, and this time his focus is none other than the most iconic of samurai, Zatoichi. Miike regular Sho Aikawa (Dead or Alive), in his first theatrical leading role, stars as the titular blind masseur with a deadly cane... (filmaffinity.com)

The Shinsengumi was a special police force organized in 1864 to protect the shogun during the period of civil unrest following the arrival of the black ships. Kondo Isami, the "Devil" commander of the Shinsengumi was a master swordsman who devoted his life to protecting the shogun and fighting on the side of the Tokugawa. The movie tells the story of the Shinsengumi form their greatest triumph through their final loss.