Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman explained

Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman (新座頭市・破れ!唐人剣)
Director:Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Hsu Tseng Hung
Producer:Shintaro Katsu
Wong Ming
Screenplay:Takayuki Yamada
Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Story:Kan Shimozawa
Starring:Shintaro Katsu
Jimmy Wang Yu
Cinematography:Chikashi Makiura
Editing:Toshio Taniguchi
Studio:Katsu Productions
Wing Luen Movie Film Company
Distributor:Dainichi Eihai
Golden Harvest
Runtime:94 minutes
Country:Japan
Hong Kong
Language:Japanese
Mandarin

, also known as Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman and The Blind Swordsman Meets His Equal, is a 1971 Japanese-Hong Kong chambara / wuxia crossover by Japanese film director Kimiyoshi Yasuda and Chinese film director Hsu Tseng Hung. The film stars Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman Zatoichi and Jimmy Wang Yu as the "One-Armed Swordsman" Wang Kang.[1] It is a crossover of the long-running Zatoichi series and the One-Armed Swordsman film series.

The Chinese edit of the film reportedly featured a different ending where Wang Kang was victorious in the final duel, rather than Zatoichi.[2]

Plot

While traveling the Japanese countryside the blind masseur Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) comes across the One Armed Swordsman, Wang Kang (Jimmy Wang Yu), who is in hiding and protecting a child from a corrupt Japanese priest and a group of yakuza. Zatoichi and Wang Kang, each from very different worlds yet heroic swordsmen in their own right, at first seem to get along but a language barrier and a series of misunderstanding leads Kang to distrust Ichi. Soon the two heroes are at each other throats while each attempts to stop the true villains from taking the child.

Cast

Production

Notes and References

  1. http://unseenfilms.blogspot.com/2014/02/zatoichi-meets-one-armed-swordsman-1971.html Unseenfilms
  2. Book: The Samurai Film . Alain Silver . June 18, 2021. 2005 . Harry N. Abrams . 9781585675968 .