Satsuo Yamamoto

Zatoichi the Outlaw

Zatoichi the Outlaw

Zatoichi arrives in a town where a gambling house is kidnapping its poor, debt-ridden patrons. A rival establishment moves to pay those debts and free the peasants, but this second house’s seemingly altruistic boss is actually laying the groundwork for a ruthless money-grabbing scheme. The sixteenth Zatoichi film is the first effort from its star’s own Katsu Productions, and it is one of the series’ most daring, with its complex characters, subversive social themes, and moral outrage.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1967
  • 95 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • Japanese

Available In

Collector's Set

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Blu-ray Box Set

9 Discs

$159.96

Zatoichi the Outlaw
Cast
Shintaro Katsu
Zatoichi
Rentaro Mikuni
Boss Asagoro
Kô Nishimura
Suga
Yuko Hamada
Oshino
Toshiyuki Hosokawa
Nisaburo
Takuya Fujioka
Zatosanji
Kenjiro Ishiyama
Tatsugoro
Tatsuo Endo
Boss Tomizo
Kayo Mikimoto
Oyuki
Tatsuo Matsushita
Yamagen
Mizuho Suzuki
Shushi Ohara
Credits
Director
Satsuo Yamamoto
Produced by
Masaichi Nagata
Original story by
Kan Shimozawa
Screenplay
Koji Matsumoto
Screenplay
Takehiro Nakajima
Screenplay
Kiyokata Saruwaka
Cinematography
Kazuo Miyagawa
Edited by
Kanji Suganuma
Original music
Sei Ikeno
Art direction
Yoshinobu Nishioka

Current

Tony Rayns on the Meaning of Zatoichi
Tony Rayns on the Meaning of Zatoichi

Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns unpacks the significance of Zatoichi’s name and the strict social hierarchy that the character so gleefully upends.

On the Road with Zatoichi
On the Road with Zatoichi

He massages, he gambles, and he’s great with a blade. Who is this blind swordsman, anyway?

By Geoffrey O’Brien