Original subtitles

Yeah, I knew you would be in here.

Here's some food. Eat.

The mistress is taking pity on you.

You know, up close, you're kind of pretty.

Leave me alone.

You're a goze singer who's been expelled, right?

You know the touch of a man, don't you?

I don't know what I cut...

...because I can't see.

"Haruka Ayase"

"Shidou Nakamura"

"Yousuke Kubozuka"

"Takao Osawa"

"Original Story: Kan Shimozawa 'Zatoichi Monogatari"'

"Screenplay: Taeko Asano"

"Music: Lisa Gerrard"

"Directed by Fumihiko Sori"

It's not really as though I want a man for love.

It's just...

on a cold night, you want someone to keep you warm, you know?

Sighted women seem to be concerned with form and figure,

but that doesn't matter to us.

And yet, when we goze have an affair with a man,

we are driven out. Really...

it's such a strange rule.

Anyone who doesn't receive warmth...

will freeze, and die, after all.

Hey, are you listening?

You had an affair with a man, too.

Am I wrong?

Hey!

He's here.

Don't take me for a fool, just because I'm blind!

Eh?

Leave me the money you promised me!

Shut up!

Pay me my money!

Hey,

there's another one.

Boss, she's a real beauty.

Let's have a look.

You a goze, too?

The boss asked you a question! Answer him!

Please leave me alone.

What did you say?

Leave me alone.

Just get up.

Wait!

Just a moment!

The lady doesn't want to, does she?

And who are you?

I am just passing through. I wonder if I might ask your indulgence.

W-W-Wait, wait, wait, wait...

There's no need for any pointless bloodshed here.

Just a second.

Let's make a deal.

How about this?

It's a promissory note for 1 0 ryo.

It's genuine.

You'll pay us money to spare her, huh?

Boss, let's kill him, and take the money and the girl.

That's playing dirty!

What's the matter?

Bring it on.

You bitch! What the hell are you doing?!

Why, you...!

"Demon"

What is your name?

It's only polite to give my name first, isn't it?

I am Fujihira Toma, from Shimofusa.

It's a long story, but I'm drifting around right now,

although this is also a journey of training.

It's just that, when I saved you,

my 1 0-ryo promissory note was ruined,

so I can't continue my journey until I get a job,

and earn some more money.

Now, I am pretty good with the sword,

so it would be nice if I could get a job as a bodyguard.

Saved me?

Well, even if you hadn't cut them down,

I could have beaten those guys well enough by myself.

You laughed just now, didn't you?

You just laughed through your nose, didn't you?

You snorted. You snorted at me!

You'll pay for mocking a samurai!

"Bito Inns"

Goze-san, I can recommend a nice inn.

Where's the gambling parlor?

The parlor is a bit farther away from the inns,

but I'll show you the way.

Goze-san, are you going to gamble?

Everyone ready?

Now throwing.

Place your bets.

Even.

Odd.

--Odd! --Do I hear even?

Odd.

Nobody here knows anyone like that.

Even.

Do I hear odd? Do I hear odd?

Even.

Okay, place your bets.

Odd.

Cho-han bets are placed. We proceed.

2 and 4, even.

Banki-to.

Down to my last couple of mon...

You think you're such a bigshot...

Hey! It's hard to play with you watching from there.

Why don't you come down here, and take us on?

Well then, if we could continue...

Everyone ready? Now throwing.

Place your bets.

Even.

Odd.

Place your bets.

Odd.

Okay, do I hear even? Any even?

Even.

Odd.

Okay, both of you.

Odd.

Place your bets.

Even.

Place your bets, place your bets, place your bets.

Do I hear even? Do I hear even?

Place your bets.

Even.

Cho-han bets are placed.

5 and 3, even.

Odd.

Okay, place your bets.

--Even. --Place your bets.

--Odd. --Odd.

Do I hear even? Do I hear even?

Even!

Odd!

Okay, both of you.

--Odd. --Place your bets.

--Even. --Even.

Odd.

Even!

Cho-han bets are placed. We proceed.

4 and 1 , odd.

Even.

Okay, place your bets, place your bets.

--Odd. --Place your bets, place your bets.

Even.

Even!

2 and 6, even.

Next one!

All right, one more round!

Okay, onto the next throw.

I don't need any light.

Oh, right.

You know what? As long as you're in the inn town,

I'll look after you, so don't you worry.

Thank you so much!

It's exactly 1 0 ryo!

This makes us even.

Kid, now that I've got some money, could you show us to a nice inn?

I'm not "Kid," I'm Kotaro.

Hey, hold it, you!

Hold it!

Halt!

What do you want?

How dare you play us for suckers!

I didn't.

Ha! There's no doubt you cheated.

By no means did I do anything so dishonest!

Give us back the money, and we'll spare your life.

Yeah.

No!

What did you say?!

If you want the money, you'll have to take it by force!

This time, stay out of it.

He's shaking like a leaf!

Pathetic!

Come and get it!

Die!

Thanks again.

Awesome!

Over there.

They're all down, aren't they?

You're amazing.

Five men with a single sword?

You put those Banki-to guys to shame.

"Banki-to"?

The bandits who infest this inn town.

You're pretty good.

I'm Toraji, of the Shirakawa Family. We run the inns here in Bito.

Sensei, I'd like to hire you as a bodyguard.

Huh?

Naturally, we'll pay you handsomely. How does 20 ryo sound?

No, no, no, no, no...

Not enough?

Of course not, given your skill, Sensei.

Well, how about I bump it all the way up to 30 ryo?

30 ryo?

Toraji-san...

All right, that settles it. Sensei, what's your name?

Fujihira Toma.

Tonma? [tonma: dim-witted]

No, dummy! "To-ma."

Kotaro, are you the one who brought the Sensei here?

That's right.

You've done us a great service.

I'll buy you some dumplings tomorrow.

Ah, Goze-san, hold on.

Is she with you?

No, she's not exactly with me.

Oh. Sensei, this way.

Let's go.

Please, Sensei.

This way, please.

Sis, you really are incredible.

Sis, you could beat Banki.

Are you sure about this, though?

You're the one who really slew them, Sis.

Are you sure you don't want them to hire you?

I only need a little bit of money.

Then come home with me! It's right over there.

Oh, yeah. My daddy says he knows a blind swordsman.

I'm home, Daddy!

Who's the woman?

She's a goze singer. She says she's looking for someone.

Are you telling lies to bring women home with you again?!

Daddy!

You're a woman, all right.

But you're even shabbier-looking than I am!

Don't try taking me for a fool!

Don't cut my daddy up!

He wants a mommy pretty badly,

but I'm not good for much of anything.

But never mind that.

Oh, yeah, so, in three days, Kataoka-sama will be here

at the Bito inns, as part of his Hasshu inspection tour.

If things go well, we can get him to come down on the Banki-to,

so the Shirakawa Family is putting their all

into giving him a good reception.

Anyway, the family invited some performers to come in,

including a traveling kabuki troupe,

and a blind master swordsman.

That ronin is the one who killed them, right?

Well?!

It's the chief.

The same wounds as the three we saw this afternoon.

A straight, backhanded stroke.

I thought there was only one person who used this style.

"Shirakawa"

Here, Sensei, drink up.

I shouldn't be having my boss pour for me.

Hey, don't be so formal!

Besides, the boss is my pop, Shirakawa Chobei.

Hey, guys! Now that Fujihira-sensei is here, we have nothing to fear!

After all, this is the man who slew five of the Banki-to!

I'm not like my pop!

I have no intention of sitting by

and letting the Banki-to walk all over us!

Not me, Toraji-sama, of the Shirakawa Family!

Everyone, drink up!

The Sensei will deal with them.

Oh, Kihachi...

Did you bring her?

Yes.

Yeah, I've been waiting for this!

You're quite a pretty goze, aren't you? What's your name?

My name is Ichi.

Do you have any requests?

Sensei, anything?

No... I don't know any songs.

Just play whatever.

Right.

Mother, who sings to you tonight,

rocks you on her lap, off to sleep

No, no, no! Hey! Not like that one.

Something more upbeat. Play something on your shamisen to inspire the Sensei.

Right.

Yeah! That's it, that's it!

Right, Sensei?

Kotaro?

It's me-- Fujihira Toma.

Sorry, sorry! Been waiting long, Sis?

Oh, Tonma!

That's "Toma"!

I understand Toraji-san paid you generously.

Sis, are you listening?

It was a good job, right?

Blindfold yourself with this.

He has unusual tastes, huh?

You're a grabby little woman.

I do have to make a living.

Don't touch his face, for any reason.

Or you'll never be able to work again.

Goodness, Sensei, you haven't touched your food, have you?

You don't like how it tastes?

No, it's nothing like that.

Ever since the Banki-to arrived, the Bito inns have been in decline.

Back when Boss Chobei was healthy,

this was such a flourishing inn town.

If this keeps up, the Bito inns are finished!

But, Sensei, if you would slay Banki for us...

That is what everyone here at the Bito inns hopes for.

So, please, eat your fill, and build up your strength.

Eat up, okay? Eat up.

Where is the restroom?

Down at the end of the hall.

We can't take this anymore.

We'll only be spilling blood for no reason.

We won't know unless we try, will we?!

Best to rely on the inspector,

and have him send us forces to put them down.

Is the entertainment ready?

Of course, we will entertain him.

But we can't rely on some bureaucrat.

No matter how many nobodies you're able to get together,

you won't be any match for Banki.

Sensei!

Not down there. This way.

Perfect timing.

Pop...

this is Fujihira-sensei.

The Sensei is a far cry from some "nobody."

We're counting on you.

May I have a brief word with you?

Banki is no ordinary warlord.

I've heard that long ago, he was a well-renowned samurai,

and skilled enough with the sword to be nominated

as one of the shogunate's fencing masters.

But why would a man like that...

His face was severely burned,

and the story is, you can't look him in the face.

I've heard that because of his appearance,

he ended up being driven from his post.

Over something like that?

The Banki-to don't kill us, but they don't let us live,

and have exploited everything that they can from us.

But we can't take it anymore.

Banki must be aware of that, too.

Then...

It may make you laugh, to hear this coming from a yakuza like me,

but honestly, I'm afraid.

I love Toraji greatly. I am truly afraid of losing him.

I wish we didn't grow old.

He's a great pop, huh?

When you have a great pop,

you get so you want to walk down a different path, in spite of yourself.

This here is a place that Boss Chobei told me about.

Uh-oh. I'm out.

Sis, wait here a minute. I'll go get some more.

Oh, Tonma!

Kotaro sure seems to have grown attached to you.

Do you like children?

No, I don't.

They're lots of trouble,

and noisy.

Still...

uncorrupted as they are, they're more trustworthy than adults.

So adults are corrupt?

Typically.

You have a nibble.

No I don't.

Oh, hey! Sorry, I do have a nibble!

Mother, who sings to you tonight

rocks you on her lap, off to sleep

That's the song you sang for us last night.

How does the rest of it go?

She was abandoned,

and she doesn't know her father's face,

but she doesn't bear a grudge.

She wants to see him again.

No grudge, huh?

I sure would like to hear it again.

If the chance comes up.

Are you still planning to stay here in the inn town for a while?

Until I find who I'm looking for.

I see.

There could be a big battle between the Shirakawa Family

and the Banki-to before long.

Are you going to help them?

I am the Shirakawa Family's bodyguard, after all.

You busybody.

Huh?

If you don't mind your own business,

you're going to get into trouble.

I can't look the other way when my friends are being killed, like you.

If I was as skilled as you are,

I could have saved that goze who was being beaten.

I'm not sure what happened to you,

but why are you so afraid to get involved with others?

Those who cannot see...

...do not know where the boundaries are.

We can't see boundaries, like whether it's day or night right now,

or where the path we're walking on suddenly disappears.

And since we can't see, it's terrifying.

Who is good, and who is bad? Where are the boundaries for that?!

I don't even know that much!

I can't even see for sure whether I'm alive, or whether I'm dead!

It's not like I particularly want to be alive, either.

Wait!

Fight me with that.

Tonma, give it up. There's no way you can beat Sis.

Here I come.

Things are coming right along, aren't they?

I'm sure the inspector will be delighted.

Yeah. Well, the Banki-to being who they are,

they'll behave themselves while the inspector is in the inn town.

Sorry, I got carried away, and went all-out.

Does it hurt?

Tonma, you're better than Sis, huh?

That's right. I am good.

But that's only when I'm using wooden sticks.

I'm not able to draw my katana.

What do you mean?

I was born into the family of a martial arts instructor for the Odaka clan.

Toma!

Mother!

There wasn't any threat to my mother's life,

but she lost her sight in both eyes.

Ever since then, I haven't been able to draw my katana.

I've never lost to anyone in a match with wooden swords.

I'm sure of my skill.

But to be the heir to the instructor, and not even be able to wield an actual sword,

made me an embarrassment to the family.

After that, my father took a disliking to me.

Five years ago, my father adopted his top pupil as his son,

and passed on leadership of the family to him.

That's when I started this journey of training.

But I'm still the same way, even now.

Still, my mother, at least, was kind to me, even after going blind.

She dreamed of me becoming a full-fledged samurai,

and always encouraged me.

When I was about 1 5, my mother got sick, and died.

But even as she was suffering from a serious illness,

my mother desperately tried to live.

Even though she couldn't see, she didn't discard her hopes of living.

She wanted to live, she wanted to live,

but it was not to be.

I am...

who I am.

The Hasshu inspector is arriving!

I see. He isn't who you are looking for, then?

I should rather place my life in your hands.

So you say...

You're leaving the inn town?

Yasuke!

It doesn't matter if you are the Hasshu inspector.

Mind your tongue!

Sensei!

You're Fujihira Toma?

Sensei, let them have it!

What the hell's going on?!

Kataoka-sama!

Listen to me.

You didn't see nothing.

Bito Inns is a nice, peaceful inn town.

A nice... inn town...

If you want to end your tour of duty without any trouble,

you'll leave us alone.

That's a promise.

This is what you were pinning your hopes on, was it, Toraji?

If you had been a good boy, like your old man,

we could have gotten along.

Shut up!

The inn town...

Take care...

of the inn town...

Pop...

Hey!

Come on! Pop! Pop!

Pop!

You blew it.

Wait!

There's no sense in wiping out the entire Shirakawa Family.

That's enough for today.

We're pulling out!

I find it hard to believe that you're the backhanded, straight-stroke swordsman.

Hey, we're taking him with us.

You have the wrong person.

Take me to where Banki is.

Eh?

Banki knows someone who fights using this style, right?

This should be interesting.

All right!

Chief, the ronin named Fujihira Toma

wasn't the one who killed our men.

Are you saying that woman killed them?

Don't give us that nonsense!

Why don't you see for yourself?

Are you Banki?

Am I not good enough for you?

I'll get her!

You're all utterly hopeless.

Have you come to slay me?

I have something to ask you.

I'm quite good.

Be quiet!

Don't make a sound.

I've seen the same style of swordsmanship as yours before.

He was also extremely good, despite being blind.

That man contracted an illness that was going around,

and died all too soon, before we could settle our score.

If there was ever anyone I wanted to slay, it was him.

Play us for fools, will you?!

Stop it!

--Shut up! --Stop it!

Come on, say something for yourself, Sensei!

Daddy, do something! He's gonna die! Daddy! Daddy!

Tonma really is a great samurai! He's even better than Sis!

I've seen him! He beat Sis!

We're going to settle this with the Banki-to.

We're not running away anymore.

We've had many of our friends killed.

The more help we have, the better!

Sensei,

if you really are that good, then kill Banki with your own two hands.

Before I do...

there's something... I have to take care of.

Does it hurt?

How are you involved with that blind man?

We had... something of the same scent about us.

You... have that same scent, too.

We...

don't get treated decently.

We get kicked around,

and left to die somewhere by the side of the road.

You stay down there until you hit rock bottom.

If you live, I'll take care of you afterward.

Please tell the mistress I didn't do anything.

That is the only place I can live.

I want to go back.

Ichi, I'm here to save you.

The woman has gotten away!

Where did she run off to?!

Get her!

After her!

Kihachi!

There she is! Over here!

Who are you?!

Fujihira Toma!

That is my woman.

You shouldn't get up yet.

Here.

He's... already dead.

You mean your father?

He placed me with a goze house,

but he would show up sometimes,

and teach me how to swordfight.

Now I'll never find out anything.

I was driven out of the goze house,

slew the man who attacked me,

and now I don't understand anything,

and I really can't feel anything anymore.

I would rather have died.

But I wanted to see him one more time...

I wanted to see whether or not he was my father before I died.

You must not die.

Listen up! We may not match their numbers,

but we still have a good chance of winning!

The Banki-to outnumber us more than two-to-one!

Be sure you kill at least two of them before you die!

Make sure you draw them close enough.

Yeah!

Give me a shot, too.

Yeah!

--Yeah! --Yeah!

Sensei... don't run away this time.

They're here! The Banki-to are headed this way, in force!

I am Shirakawa Toraji, of the Shirakawa Family!

Banki!

Today is the day we settle this with you!

Neither this inn town nor you are of any use to me anymore.

Toraji!

Unfortunately for you,

you're going to meet the same fate as your father.

Today will be the end for you, and for this inn town.

Go!

Sis, are you awake?

Where's Toma?

What's the matter?

That's for my pop!

Fujihira Toma!

Come on out.

I'm here for the woman.

Where did the bastard go?

He ran out on us again, huh?

We've got no choice. I'll go.

Go cut him up good!

The woman belongs to me.

I will never... turn Ichi over to you.

We're counting on you,

Sensei.

Toma...

Tonma!

Is Banki...?

He's dead.

Banki... is dead.

Live on...

Ichi.

Live.

I think I can now see...

one of the boundaries I couldn't see before.

Once a person has fallen,

they can never go back to being right.

Especially a person who is steeped in the scent of blood.

I won't allow you to get away with this.

Try as you might, it will always end the same way!

Whene'er you grow lonely, off to sleep

--Boss! Whene'er you grow lonely, off to sleep

Whene'er you grow sad, off to sleep

Father, whose face you cannot see

rocks you on his lap, off to sleep

Mother, who sings to you tonight

rocks you on her lap, off to sleep

Where will you go now?

To the Odaka clan.

Toma-san's clan?

To lay his katana before his mother's grave.

It looks like I do need a light when I walk.

Thanks to you, I can see the way a little bit now.

I'll see you again, right?!

If we part forever more

I will feel your heart anytime

And I want to love myself, my life

Let me know how to believe forever

I've made up my mind not to run away

even in the darkness

When I listen closely to your tender voice,

I can find even the light

All I wish for is the strength to believe

in just one person

The affectionate warmth without form

that you showed to me

Even when we can't be together,

if we both look up at separate skies,

I feel as though I'm not alone

Once again, I can start walking on

When we're together,

find out and share with you

I can overcome,

I will, I will

I thought I was doing the holding, but I've come to realize,

our love is what was holding me up

All I wish for is the strength to believe

in just one person

The affectionate warmth without form

that you showed to me

Even when we can't be together,

if we both look up at separate skies,

I feel as though I'm not alone

Once again, I can start walking on