Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword

Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) comes to the defense of a yakuza chief whose business is in trouble. Directed by Kazuo Ikehiro., The blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) goes up against an ambitious crime boss who isn’t above kidnapping and murder. He must rescue a fireworks specialist who has been kidnapped for his expertise with gunpowder as a weapon. This film tells us something of the origins of Zatoichi’s training in martial arts, as a way of compensating for his blindness, and his preferred method of using darkness as a weapon against sighted opponents.