Zatoichi: On the Road (座頭市喧嘩旅 or 'Zatōichi kenka-tabi') is a 1963 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (now known as Kadokawa Pictures). Zatoichi: On the Road is the fifth episode in the 26 part film series devoted to the character of Zatoichi. Ichi is being taken to Doyoma, all expenses paid by an employee of Doyoma crime boss Hikozo, on the promise of just meeting with Hikozo, no obligation to do anything. On the way his guide is killed by Hikozo's rivals who overheard Ichi and his guide at a tea house. Ichi kills them including the husband of Hisa, a woman who watches the short fight. She tells him this when he asks and they part coolly. At night he encounters a group of samurai looking for a girl. They leave and Ichi discovers the man they have just mortally wounded. He asks Ichi to protect a girl named Mitsu, the girl for whom the others are l...