Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman S03E10, The Winter Sea (1978), English Subtitles A young, gravely ill artist takes up with Zatoichi along with a repentant would-be gang member. The artist spends her days drawing Zatoichi. #zatoichi

Zatôichi (座頭市), 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. 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 (1830s and 1840s). 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. 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. #zatoichi #shintarokatsu