Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), trying to live a quiet life as a tradesman, is a blind master swordsman taunted by rival samurai. A warlord discovering the blind masseur's talents attempts to hire him, but Zatoichi wants no part. Zatoichi is soon called into action, however, when the rival warlord hires a samurai to challenge the blind swordsman. This black and white samurai epic gave rise to one of the most popular characters in Japanese film history and would spawn dozens of sequels.