Watch Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

This 70s Samurai action film was directed by Kihachi Okamoto and stars Toshiro Mifune as Yojimbo and Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi. Both characters were from earlier film works, Zatoichi from Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman and Yojimbo from the film of the same name by Akira Kurosawa, and this is the first and only film that brings both iconinc characters together.

The film's plot revolves around Zatoichi's holiday to a small town he enjoyed visiting in his youth. However, upon his arrival he discovers that the town has become overrun with despots and villians. There are only the oppressed and the oppressors. One man who straddles the divide between the social strata is Yojimbo, a drunken, unruly bodyguard. Together Yojimbo and Zatoichi decide to take on the ruling gang and free the town from tyranny.