MovieChat Forums > Bushi no ichibun (2007) Discussion > Loved the little reference to Zatoichi i...

Loved the little reference to Zatoichi in this film!


When Shinnojo's fellow poison taster friends find out that he has gone blind they say "What will he do for a living now? he can't even be a masseur..." or something like that. Awesome reference to the blind swordsman!


Let us all meet again, to join in the Beyond.

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I doubt that it's meant specifically as a reference to the Zatoichi character, in any of his manifestations; all masseurs were blind, in feudal Japan. Or to put it another way, being a masseur was one of the few options open to a blind man, so it was customary to employ blind masseurs. Music was another option. What Mimura's friends mean is that neither career is open to one of samurai caste.

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