Tajuro Akazuka (portrayed by Jushiro Konoe) is seen carrying two matching swords in the film. This was a samurai practice known as daisho. Translated this means 'big-little'. The bigger of the two swords was the long and curved katana generally used for duelling and combat. The short sword was the tanto, most commonly associated with seppuku.
While Zatoichi is repeatedly referred to as a masseur in the English subtitles, the Japanese term Anma would be more correct. Anma was both the term used for the practice and the generally nomadic practitioner of Japanese massage. In fact, edicts were passed so that massage was solely a vocation for the blind, forbidden to be learned by any with sight.
While this is the seventeenth Zatoichi film, it is only the fourth Zatoichi film to be directed by Kenji Misumi, since his work upon the first film in the series, 'Tale of Zatoichi' (1962), the eighth film in the series 'Fight, Zatoichi, Fight!' (1964), and the twelfth film in the series, 'Zatoichi & the Chess Expert' (1965).
Zatoichi's katana is a shikomizue. This is a sword which is concealed within a wooden cane, thus the cane itself is both handle and scabbard.
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