Zatoichi 16 The Outlaw

A DAIEI CO. LTD. PRODUCTION

Ah, it went wide.

THE FIRST FEATURE BY KATSU PRODUCTIONS

Better than the last one.

Produced by MASAICHI NAGATA

Original Story by KAN SHIMOZAWA

Screenplay by TAKEHIRO NAKAJIMA KOJI MATSUMOTO, KIYOTAKA SARUWAKA

Cinematography by KAZUO MIYAGAWA

Original Music by SEI IKENO

Art Direction by YOSHINOBU NISHIOKA

I'm sorry.

Don't tell me you can't shoot. Now, show me.

You must be good, with all the comments you made.

No, I was just —

Don't make excuses now.

Now, shoot.

Starring:

Excuse me, miss, could you change the targets?

I prefer the smallest target.

SHINTARO KATSU

RENTARO MIKUNI KO NISHIMURA, YUKO HAMADA

KENJIRO ISHIYAMA TOSHIYUKI HOSOKAWA, TAKUYA FUJIOKA

MIZUHO SUZUKI, TATSUO ENDO KAYO MIKIMOTO, TATSUO MATSUSHITA

Directed by SATSUO YAMAMOTO

The smallest target is in place as you requested.

Thanks.

And can you tap on it

three times?

All right.

One. Two.

Three.

He hit it!

Bull's eye!

ZATOICHI THE OUTLAW

Here you go.

Old woman, I'd like to buy a towel, too.

I have some print towels and some plain ones.

A print towel will be nice.

The print towels are 16 mon each, a bit more expensive than the plain ones.

Here's a print towel.

Old woman, how much is this plain one?

What?

Oh, I made a mistake.

Here you go. It's 16 mon.

Old woman, you must have bad eyesight too.

You should take care of it before it gets worse.

Good-bye.

Bastard!

You're awfully strong.

You didn't even use your sword.

I don't own a sword.

I take it that you are a samurai.

Why don't you carry a sword?

A blind man carries a cane sword these days.

Why shouldn't there be a swordless samurai?

I might kill somebody if I carried a sword.

I don't care to defile the land with blood.

"Defile the land with blood"?

Hoy, hoy

The wise teacher of my village

Aavised us all

Keep your hands away from other men's wives

Keep away from drinking and gambling

It will be your ruin to dabble in them

Be happy, my wife

Beginning today

I'll quit drinking and gambling

As well as fighting and whoring

Instead I'll work and make the fields fertile

No gambling.

No whoring or fighting.

It seems I've wound up in a peculiar village.

Theater performances, gatherings, festivals

are all prohibited, it says.

Mr. Suga, this way please.

- Hello? - Don't pester me!

Hello?

You're still here? Go home!

A rude welcome.

Just go home. I'm really busy getting ready for the festival.

But we left the beans out to dry. Come home to help me take them in.

I simply don't have time to help you.

Why can't you get it, Sis?

Oshino.

You came to see Nisaburo, not Sada, didn't you?

Don't tease me.

- Your face gives it away. - You're mean, Rokusuke!

Excuse me.

- Who the hell are you? - We don't need a masseur.

- I'm in the same business as you. - A blind yakuza?

Hey! The boss is going out.

Be safe.

Excuse me.

Who the hell are you?

I'm a traveling yakuza. Please accept my introduction.

I'm busy right now. Somebody, receive him.

Take care, sir.

I'll receive your introduction.

Greetings!

With the public announcement of the ban on festivals and gatherings,

we can't put on any gaming for the planned festival.

Don't worry.

I know how to get on his good side.

I'm counting on you.

But that ronin Shusui Ohara

iS a real nuisance.

He preaches to the peasants against drinking and gambling.

Soon, I'll be put out of business.

In fact, not only myself,

but you must find him a nuisance as well.

That's why you should leave it to me.

Your fixed game makes the peasants borrow money against their fields,

and that helps my business.

Why, it's harsh of you to accuse me of running a fixed game.

Boss.

I brought him.

It is very kind of you to come. Please have a seat.

Welcome, sir.

It's a humble place, but please make yourself comfortable.

Serve him.

Let me pour you some sake.

Mr. Suga, thank you for agreeing to see us promptly.

Please enjoy.

The thing is,

as you know, the crops are poor this year.

So the peasants were really looking forward to the festival to cheer things up.

"For a priest, one fart can ruin 100 days of sermons."

- "One fault"? - No, "One fart."

I's not the peasants but you two who are looking forward to the festival.

Well, I am awed by your perceptiveness.

In a year of poor crops, people take to gambling.

Since the crops have been poor for two years in a row,

your money chest must be quite full, Yamagen.

Not at all, sir.

I'm in the soy sauce trade.

When the crops are poor, the shortage of soy beans hurts my business.

Nonsense.

The peasants gamble away their crops before they even harvest them.

And then the soy sauce brewer buys them at a bargain.

What a rich scheme.

You see through everything, sir.

By the way, that ronin Shusui Ohara

is spreading a peculiar song among the peasants.

I hear he's replanting the rice fields too.

Replanting the rice fields?

Rice seedlings

need to absorb a lot of sunlight and air.

Fusajiro, you probably think the more seedlings you plant,

the more rice you'll harvest.

But that's a big mistake.

The rice plants won't be able to breathe and will die.

But it's impossible to plant each seedling neatly spaced

all by yourself.

That's why we have to help each other when we plant seedlings.

And when you plant 20 days earlier than we normally do,

we won't have to worry even if a typhoon strikes

because the rice plants will already be ripening.

Last year, only we got good crops because we planted this way,

and you were jealous of us.

Let me give you one more piece of advice.

Make the ridges between the rice fields three times thicker.

But that would make the fields so much smaller.

Stingy fool!

Cold water seeps through narrow ridges, and the rice doesn't grow well.

You end up with a poorer crop.

Now, place your bets.

Odd.

You're betting on odd? Anybody on even?

Any bets on even?

Only a single bet against the house. Showdown!

I'm sorry, can I pass on this one?

All right, since you traveled three miles to come here.

It's odd. Too bad you passed.

Damn!

All in on odd.

The bet is placed. Showdown!

Three and three. Even.

Damn!

You lost again.

Win or lose, it's all matter of chance.

Let's play!

Could I borrow some chips?

You've already borrowed quite a lot.

Can you pay for them?

Hey.

Passing through.

Please come with us.

- But I still want to play. - It's okay. Come with us.

I want to play.

Where are you taking me?

This way.

You fool!

What's this?

The game was fixed, wasn't it?

You cheated!

Cheating is part of our game.

We'll shake you down good for all you lost tonight!

Bastards!

Why, you're Matashichi.

You peasants from Kiyotaki Village are all half-wits.