Zatoichi On The Road

Zatoichi On The Road (1963) is the fifth installment (and third film made in in 63!) and directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda, who would subsequently go onto direct several more installments in the series. Patterns are starting to emerge as Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) gives into his altruistic nature to help a damsel in distress-the daughter of a rich Tokyo merchant Omitsu (Shiho Fujimura). I felt she was showed up by the dubious female villain-the sultry Reiko Fujiwara. As usual Zatoichi is underestimated at all turns but new ways of demonstrating his skill emerge as he tosses a boss a persimmon and draws to slice it in two before it lands in his hands. Later he catches a spear in mid flight and uses it to dispatch a minion as he dodges other spears thrown. It seems as though the body count is increasing with each installment as well. The final showdown when this takes place obviously owes something in its deserted town atmosphere to Kurosawa's Yojimbo (which itself was subsequently inspired by American westerns), which was released two years previously in 1961. They even manage to bring something new to the obligatory final showdown sequence where Zatoichi takes care of the bosses of both sides all at once.