, also known as ''Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman'' and ''The Blind Swordsman Meets His Equal'', is a 1971 Japanese-Hong Kong ''

chambara , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

'' / ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

by Japanese film director

Kimiyoshi Yasuda (born February 15, 1911 Tokyo, Japan, died July 26, 1983) was a Japanese film director from the 1930s to 1970s. He directed six films about Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman. He signed with Nikkatsu Kyoto studio as an assistant director and started w ...

and Chinese film director Hsu Tseng Hung. The film stars

Shintaro Katsu was a Japanese actor, singer, and filmmaker. He is known for starring in the ''Akumyo'' series, the ''Hoodlum Soldier'' series, and the ''Zatoichi'' series. Life and career Born Toshio Okumura (奥村利夫 ''Okumura Toshio'') on 29 Novemb ...

as the blind swordsman

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' serie ...

and

Jimmy Wang Yu Jimmy Wang Yu (; born Wang Zheng Quan; 28 March 1943 – 5 April 2022) was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese martial artist, actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. Initially a contract player for Shaw Brothers, he rose to fame for his starring ...

as the "

One-Armed Swordsman ''One-Armed Swordsman'' is a 1967 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. Directed by Chang Cheh, it was the first of the new style of ''wuxia'' films emphasizing male anti-heroes, violent swordplay and heavy bloodletting ...

" Wang Kang. 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.

Plot

While traveling the Japanese countryside the blind masseur

(

) comes across the One Armed Swordsman, Wang Kang (

), who is in hiding and protecting a child from a corrupt Japanese priest and a group of

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

. Zatoichi and Wang Kang, each from very different worlds yet heroic swordsman 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

as Wang Kang *Yūko Hama as Osen *Michie Terada as Oyone *

Kōji Nanbara was a Japanese actor. He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. In 1951, he signed with Daiei film company. nad made his film debut with ''Kamikaze Tokkotai''. He was most famous for playing villains. He died of a myocardial infarction in Chōfu, ...

as Kakuzen *Tokue Hanasawa as Yosaku *Shinsuke Minami as Henoichi *

Shirō Itō is a Japanese actor and comedian. Filmography Film * ''Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman'' (1971) * '' Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy'' (1974) * ''Princess from the Moon'' (1987) * ''A Taxing Woman'' (1987) * ''Minbo'' (1992) * ' ...

as Shinshichi *

Toru Abe was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1944 to 1985. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Toru 1917 births 1993 deaths Japanese male film actors 20th-century Japanese male ...

as Boss Tōbei *Cheung Yik as Li Xiangrong *Wang Ling as Li Yumei

Production

Yoshinobu Nishioka was a Japanese jidaigeki production designer, art director, producer, and set decorater from Asuka, Nara Prefecture who won three Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction. Nishioka joined Daiei Kyoto film in 1948. ...

- Art director

References

External links

* *
Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman
' at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual ( French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websi ...

* 1971 films 1971 action films Hong Kong action films 1970s Japanese-language films Films about amputees Films directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda Films set in China Films set in Japan Kung fu films Hong Kong martial arts films Wuxia films Zatoichi films 1970s Hong Kong films 1970s Japanese films {{martialart-film-stub