# Zatoichi's Vengeance (座頭市の歌が聞える)
**Zatoichi's Vengeance** (座頭市の歌が聞える, *Zatōichi no uta ga kikoeru*, literally "I Can Hear the Song of Zatōichi") is a 1966 Japanese color chambara film directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, the thirteenth entry in the Zatoichi series starring [Shintaro Katsu](https://www.edgepedia.org/shintaro-katsu) as the blind itinerant masseur and swordsman.[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) It was produced by Daiei Film from an original story by Kan Shimozawa, with a screenplay by Hajime Takaiwa.[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Japanese title | 座頭市の歌が聞える (*Zatōichi no uta ga kikoeru*); English titles include Zatoichi's Vengeance and The Blind Swordsman's Vengeance[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) |
| Release | May 1966; Japanese sources give 3 May 1966, one English-language database gives 2 May[2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) • [1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/) |
| Series position | 13th of the 26 Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1989[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/) • [3](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BA%A7%E9%A0%AD%E5%B8%82%E3%81%97%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%9A-1541114) |
| Runtime | 82 minutes by Japanese and Criterion listings; 83 minutes on several home-video and database pages[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance) • [5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213) |
| Studio and distributor | Daiei Film Co., Ltd. (Daiei Kyoto)[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/) • [6](https://lp.p.pia.jp/event/movie/5013/index.html) |
| Key crew | Director Tokuzo Tanaka; cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa; music Akira Ifukube; art direction Yoshinobu Nishioka; produced by Ikuo Kubodera[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance) |
| Principal cast | Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi), Shigeru Amachi (Kurobe), Mayumi Ogawa (Ocho), Kei Sato (Boss Gonzo), Jun Hamamura (blind priest)[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance) |
## Spoilers
### Story
Zatoichi crosses paths with a ronin radiating killing intent at Takasaki, and soon afterward finds a man the ronin has cut down. The dying man, the cheat (ikasama) Tamekichi, entrusts Zatoichi with his wallet and asks him to deliver it to his family.[2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) Traveling with a blind biwa priest he meets on the road, Zatoichi reaches the shrine town of Ichinomiya, where he learns that the old woman Okan runs a teahouse and is Tamekichi's mother, and he hands the wallet to Tamekichi's son Taichi.[2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/)
Ichinomiya, normally a peaceful gate town with no yakuza, has recently been taken over by the gang of Boss Gonzo (板鼻の権造), who extort "rights money" from the shops facing the shrine; during the festival nearly all the shops stand closed.[7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html) • [2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) Taichi admires the strong Zatoichi, but the biwa priest reproaches him, warning that admiring the swordsman will ruin the boy's future. Zatoichi, resolving not to draw his cane sword, lets himself be beaten one-sidedly in front of the child; he finally draws it only when the gang tries to abduct the girl Oshino to force the surrender of a local store.[7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html)
The ronin of the opening, Kurobe Genhachiro, is the husband of Ocho, a kind-hearted prostitute Zatoichi befriends in town. To raise the fifty ryō needed to buy out Ocho, Kurobe sells his sword skill to Gonzo and takes a contract to kill Zatoichi, setting the two swordsmen on a collision course.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213) • [7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html)
## The drum duel
The film's title refers to its celebrated climax. Zatoichi, blind, acts by relying on sound and has exceptionally acute hearing; to neutralize this weapon, his enemies close in on him to the accompaniment of a large drum beaten in a wild, scattered rhythm.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213) The duel between Zatoichi and Kurobe plays out against this drumming, and the sequence is the set piece for which the film is remembered in series histories.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213)
## Place in the series
The Zatoichi series began with *The Tale of Zatoichi* (座頭市物語, 1962), directed by Kenji Misumi at Daiei Kyoto, and grew into a run of 26 films starring Katsu Shintaro between 1962 and 1989, becoming Daiei's flagship property.[3](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BA%A7%E9%A0%AD%E5%B8%82%E3%81%97%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%9A-1541114) • [8](https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/film/pdf/japanese-film-classics-00.pdf) Zatoichi's Vengeance followed *Zatoichi and the Chess Expert* (1965) and was followed by *[Zatoichi's Pilgrimage](https://www.edgepedia.org/zatoichis-pilgrimage)* (1966).[1](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/)
**A turning point in the character.** [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) describes the film as the first entry to scrutinize the swordsman's methods: a blind monk confronts Zatoichi about his violent approach to problem solving, and Zatoichi sees the boy Taichi turning toward the same bloodstained path.[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance) This moral questioning is dramatized in the plot itself, in Zatoichi's refusal to draw against the gang while the child watches.[7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html)
**The returning rival.** Shigeru Amachi, who plays Kurobe Genhachiro, had played the tubercular swordsman Hirate Miki in the first film, *The Tale of Zatoichi*, a performance series histories credit as essential to that film's success. His return as a different ronin facing Zatoichi again was a selling point of the thirteenth entry.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213) • [9](https://eiga.com/movie/36681/) [Kei Sato](https://www.edgepedia.org/kei-sato), appearing for the first time in the series, plays the vicious boss Gonzo.[5](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213)
## Production
The screenplay was adapted by Hajime Takaiwa from Kan Shimozawa's original story; Takaiwa was known for *Wakayakuken Kenjōjō* and Tanaka for *New Heitai Yakuza* at the time, and cinematography was by Kazuo Miyagawa, the cinematographer of *Irezumi* (1966).[2](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/) The music is by [Akira Ifukube](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-ifukube), art direction by Yoshinobu Nishioka, and editing by Kanji Suganuma.[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance) The film was shot in color in Daiei's CinemaScope process.[7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html) • [10](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA42158333)
## Home video and availability
KADOKAWA released the film on DVD on 24 March 2017 (catalog number DABA-91281, 1,980 yen including tax), with Japanese Dolby Digital mono sound in [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope), and extras including the theatrical trailer, a staff and cast commentary, and a photo gallery.[7](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html) It also appears in the Criterion Collection's nine-disc Blu-ray box set *Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman* and streams on the Criterion Channel.[4](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance)
## References
1. [Zatoichi's Vengeance, The Godzilla Cineaste](https://godzillacineaste.net/films/zatoichis-vengeance-1966/)
2. [座頭市の歌が聞える：作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/36693/)
3. [『座頭市』シリーズとは, コトバンク（日本大百科全書）](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%BA%A7%E9%A0%AD%E5%B8%82%E3%81%97%E3%82%8A%E3%83%BC%E3%81%9A-1541114)
4. [Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/28312-zatoichi-s-vengeance)
5. [座頭市の歌が聞える, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/022213)
6. [座頭市の歌が聞えるの作品情報・あらすじ・キャスト, ぴあ映画](https://lp.p.pia.jp/event/movie/5013/index.html)
7. [作品情報｜座頭市の歌が聞える, 角川シネマコレクション](https://cinemakadokawa.jp/product/entry-5695.html)
8. [Directors and Films 12: Misumi Kenji, The Japan Foundation](https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/film/pdf/japanese-film-classics-00.pdf)
9. [座頭市物語：作品情報, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/36681/)
10. [座頭市の歌が聞こえる, CiNii 図書](https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA42158333)
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*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*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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