is a samurai film from 2010 directed by Junji Sakamoto

Junji Sakamoto

Junji Sakamoto is a Japanese film director born in Sakai City, Japan. After working as a set assistant or assistant director under such filmmakers as Sogo Ishii and Kazuyuki Izutsu, he made his directorial debut in 1989 with Dotsuitarunen and followed it up with another boxing film,...

 and starring Shingo Katori

Shingo Katori

is the youngest member of SMAP, a popular Japanese idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates, and he is from Yokohama, Japan. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a voice actor in such anime series as Akazukin Chacha, in which he voiced the part of...

 in the role of Zatoichi

Zatoichi

is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...

.

Plot

The films starts with the wife of Ichi ("Ichi" is his real name, since "Zato" is a title within the Todoza

Todoza

The was a Japanese guild for blind men, established in the 14th century by the biwa hōshi . Members performed a variety of roles, as itinerant musicians, masseurs, and acupuncturists. It received the patronage of the Muromachi and Edo shogunates, and remained active until the Meiji restoration,...

) being murdered by the son of a yakuza

Yakuza

, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

 boss. Following her death, Ichi returns to his hometown, where he hopes to resume a normal life as a farmer. However, after the yakuza start to take advantage of the local peasants, Ichi tries to protect them, once again.

Cast

• Shingo Katori
  Shingo Katori
  is the youngest member of SMAP, a popular Japanese idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates, and he is from Yokohama, Japan. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a voice actor in such anime series as Akazukin Chacha, in which he voiced the part of...
  
   as Zatoichi
• Satomi Ishihara
  Satomi Ishihara
  is a Japanese actress.Popular mostly among Japanese fans, she gained recognition for her acting talent. She started taking parts acting in Japanese dramas in 2003. Also, she appeared in various commercial events also known as public relations...
  
   as Ichi's wife
• Takashi Sorimachi
  Takashi Sorimachi
  is a Japanese actor and singer. He is mostly famous for having portrayed Eikichi Onizuka in the live-action drama adaptation of the popular manga series Great Teacher Onizuka, and the assassin O in Hong Kong action film Fulltime Killer....
  
   as Yanagi
• Tatsuya Nakadai
  Tatsuya Nakadai
  is a Japanese leading film actor.He became a star after he was discovered working as a Tokyo shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the early 1950s...
  
   as Yakuza's boss
• Sosuke Takaoka as Tora