Zatoichi

, also known as Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally, Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman and Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi, is a 1989 Japanese Chambara film directed by and starring Shintaro Katsu, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay. It is the twenty-sixth entry in a series of films featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi, released 16 years after the twenty-fifth film in the series Zatoichi's Conspiracy (1973). The main character is based on a fictional character, a blind masseur and swordmaster created by novelist Kan Shimozawa and set during the late Edo period. Zatoichi is the last film in the original classic saga of Zatoichi (1962–1989). It is also the second time Shintaro Katsu directed a Zatoichi film, and the last time Katsu played the title character on screen. Synopsis After being released from a brief captivity in prison, an older Ichi continues his life of wandering. He befriends a Rōnin (a masterless samurai), and later decides to live in a village, which happens to be doomed and besieged by the unholy alliance of the Yakuza lord Boss Goemon with the mad and corrupt Inspector Hasshuu. After learning of the ominous fate of the villagers, Zatoichi throws himself once again into a fierce battle, facing both Goemon's army and the unnamed Ronin, who has been hired by Goemon to eliminate Zatoichi. Cast Shintaro Katsu ... Zatôichi/Ichi, a zatô in the Tôdô-za Ken Ogata ... Rônin/Masterless samurai Kanako Higuchi ... Boss Han Bosatsu/Ohan of the Bosatsu Takanori Jinnai ... Inspector Hasshuu/Hanshu Tsurutaro Kataoka ... Tsuru Toyomi Kusano ... Ume Ryûtarô Gan ... Boss Goemon (billed as Takehiro Okumura) Keizō Kanie Joe Yamanaka Rikiya Yasuoka Norihei Miki ... Zatoichi's friend Yuya Uchida ... Boss Akabei