{ "id": "epmwpa0pb2", "slug": "new-tale-of-zatoichi", "title": "New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "label": "Franchise and series entries as standalone works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries", "label": "Action, thriller, and crime series film entries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries.entries-released-1960s-and-1970s", "label": "Entries released 1960s and 1970s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries.entries-released-1960s-and-1970s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Franchise and series entries as standalone works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series", "label": "Franchise and series entries as standalone works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語, Shin Zatoichi monogatari) is the 1963 third Zatoichi film and the first in color, directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, starring Shintaro Katsu, with Zatoichi's sword teacher Banno as his final adversary.", "snippet": "New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語, Shin Zatoichi monogatari) is the 1963 third Zatoichi film and the first in color, directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, starring Shintaro Katsu, with Zatoichi's sword teacher Banno as his final adversary.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.franchise-series.franchise-series.action-thriller-series-entries.entries-released-1960s-and-1970s", "markdown": "# New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語)\n\n**New Tale of Zatoichi** (新・座頭市物語, *Shin Zatōichi monogatari*) is a 1963 Japanese color period film directed by Tokuzo Tanaka (田中徳三), starring [Shintaro Katsu](https://www.edgepedia.org/shintaro-katsu) as the blind swordsman Zatoichi in his third screen appearance. It was produced by Daiei (Kyoto), released in Japan on 15 March 1963, and runs 91 minutes.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) • [2](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Japanese release | 15 March 1963; 91 minutes; color; Daiei (Kyoto)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) • [2](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html) |\n| Place in series | Third of the 26 Zatoichi films and the first in color[3](https://film.briefs.cloud/new-tale-of-zatoichi/) • [4](https://jfdb.jp/title/10070) |\n| Director | Tokuzo Tanaka (田中徳三)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) |\n| Screenplay | Minoru Inuzuka (犬塚稔) and Kikuo Umebayashi (梅林貴久生), from an original story by Kan Shimozawa (子母沢寛)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) • [5](https://www.criterion.com/films/28302-new-tale-of-zatoichi) |\n| Principal cast | Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi), Mikiko Tsubouchi (Yayoi), Seizaburo Kawazu (Banno Yasujiro)[5](https://www.criterion.com/films/28302-new-tale-of-zatoichi) |\n| Music and cinematography | Akira Ifukube (伊福部昭); Chikashi Makiura (牧浦地志)[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) |\n| Home video | KADOKAWA DVD released 24 March 2017, catalog number DABA-91271[2](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nZatoichi returns to his home region of Kasama for the first time in years. At a hot-spring inn on the Kinugawa River he is ambushed by Yashiki no Shimagichi and his gang; Shimagichi is the brother of Kanbee of Seki, a man Zatoichi had cut down earlier. The duel is interrupted by Banno Yasujiro, Zatoichi's own sword teacher, who takes him back to his house in Shimodate.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/) • [2](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html)\n\nTwo storylines then converge. Banno's sister Yayoi, whose lameness had broken off earlier marriage negotiations, treats Zatoichi warmly and unexpectedly proposes marriage; Zatoichi vows to abandon the gambler's life and go straight from that day on. Meanwhile, remnants of the Mito Tengu-to, a band of defeated retainers led by Okumura Kin'nosuke, have fled to Sogenji temple in Shimodate and, short of money for their escape, ask their old acquaintance Banno to help them carry out a kidnapping. Banno agrees, and a pupil of his is abducted as leverage.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/)\n\nShimagichi later challenges Zatoichi to a real duel, but when Zatoichi, honoring his vow to Yayoi, says he has washed his hands of the yakuza life and begs forgiveness, Shimagichi lets the old grudge go. Banno, however, refuses to sanction the marriage and expels Zatoichi from his school. After a ransom exchange is arranged at the Rakan forest, Banno kills Shimagichi in a quarrel at an inn, Zatoichi cuts down the Tengu-to band in a bloody fight, and Banno, arriving in fury, draws his sword against his former pupil. Zatoichi's desperate blade fells his teacher; Yayoi, arriving after the fight, stands stunned as Zatoichi bows to her and walks away alone.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/)\n\nThe film therefore develops the character in a direction the first two entries had only hinted at: the [Criterion](https://www.edgepedia.org/criterion) essay on the series notes that Zatoichi here studies swordsmanship with a samurai who becomes his adversary, and the story turns on his attempt to leave violence behind and his failure to do so.[8](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2971-on-the-road-with-zatoichi)\n\n## Place in the series\n\nThe film belongs to the Zatoichi series begun with *The Tale of Zatoichi* (座頭市物語, 1962), in which Katsu first played the blind masseur and iaijutsu (art of drawing the sword and striking instantly) master; that character became his signature role across a run of 26 films.[4](https://jfdb.jp/title/10070) • [6](https://www.omc.co.jp/film/outline/052.html) *New Tale of Zatoichi* is the third entry and the first shot in color; the series remained in color from this film onward.[3](https://film.briefs.cloud/new-tale-of-zatoichi/) • [7](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022205)\n\nThe production team carried over from the earlier entries. Kan Shimozawa's short story, first published in his 1961 collection *Futokoro Techō*, supplied the original material for the whole series, and Minoru Inuzuka, who had scripted the first two films, co-wrote this one with Kikuo Umebayashi. Chikashi Makiura again served as cinematographer and [Akira Ifukube](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-ifukube) as composer.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/)\n\n## Style and reception notes\n\nThe film's tagline on the KADOKAWA release page emphasizes its signature action: a draw so fast it relies not on a stance or even on drawing the sword, but on sound and scent, described as an astonishing iai cut.[2](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html) A viewer review collected by Eiga.com highlights the candle-lit iai sequence as a famous scene made possible by the move to color.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/)\n\nThe film is included in Criterion's *Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman* Blu-ray box set, where it is presented in color at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with Japanese sound.[5](https://www.criterion.com/films/28302-new-tale-of-zatoichi) As of the most recent listings it is available for rental or purchase on Prime Video in Japan.[9](https://filmarks.com/movies/27639/vod)\n\n## References\n\n1. [新・座頭市物語 : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/36683/)\n2. [作品情報 | 新・座頭市物語 | 角川シネマコレクション, KADOKAWA](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5674.html)\n3. [New Tale of Zatoichi · Film · Briefs](https://film.briefs.cloud/new-tale-of-zatoichi/)\n4. [座頭市物語, JFDB (Japanese Film Database)](https://jfdb.jp/title/10070)\n5. [New Tale of Zatoichi (1963), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/28302-new-tale-of-zatoichi)\n6. [座頭市物語｜プログラム一覧, OMC](https://www.omc.co.jp/film/outline/052.html)\n7. [新・座頭市物語 | 映画 | WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022205)\n8. [On the Road with Zatoichi, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2971-on-the-road-with-zatoichi)\n9. [新・座頭市物語の動画配信サービス・視聴方法・サブスクまとめ, Filmarks映画](https://filmarks.com/movies/27639/vod)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released 1960s and 1970s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語)](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"New Tale of Zatoichi (新・座頭市物語)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/new-tale-of-zatoichi. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "New Tale of Zatoichi is the 1963 third Zatoichi film and the first in color, directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, starring Shintaro Katsu, with Zatoichi's sword teacher Banno as his final adversary." }