Miwa Takada

As the earth tremors beneath their feet, rumors of an ancient god called the Majin that lies beneath the rock abound amongst the peasant denizens of a small mountain village community ruled over by the benevolent feudal lord Handabusa (Ryūzо̄ Shimada).

The blind swordsman wanders into a town to celebrate the New Year. There, he befriends a young woman whose father has gone missing; as he tries to help her find him, he becomes entangled in a web of corruption and a series of tragic twists of fate. Returning director Kimiyoshi Yasuda and screenwriter Shozaburo Asai masterfully weave together a variety of narrative threads and tonal registers, all while playfully tweaking the conventions and motifs of the series.

Zatoichi triumphs at a village wrestling match, much to the chagrin of his yakuza opponents. The defeated gang members pay a hotheaded ronin to take out the masseur; unbeknownst to them, the hired assassin is married to a former flame of Zatoichi’s, further complicating matters.

A dying woman begs Zatoichi to reunite her son with the father he has never met, but when the masseur searches for the man, he discovers that he has been forced by a local yakuza boss to pay off his gambling debts in an unusual way: by painting illegal erotica. Determined to bring father and son together, Zatoichi pits his skills against the gangsters and a ronin who is not entirely what he seems.

The local yôkai (Japanese spirits) interfere to avenge a murder and thwart the plans of corrupt officials.