Japan Society screens two classic chambara films this Saturday, starring Shintaro Katsu and Raizo Ichikawa, respectively. Zatoichi nearly meets his match in "Zatoichi On the Road: Fighting Journey" and Raizo Ichikawa stars as an actor set on revenge after a band of ruffians mutilate his perfect face for his illicit love in "Scar Yosaburo".

And coming up on March 31st, "Mad, Bad... & Dangerous to Know: Three Untamed Beauties", a series exploring the idea of unconventional beauty in the films of actresses Ayako Wakao, Meiko Kaji and Mariko Okada.

Movie summaries:

Zatoichi On the Road: Fighting Journey
In chapter five of the Blind Swordsman saga, Zatoichi encounters a dying man who asks him to deliver the maiden O-Mitsu to her family. Feeling honor-bound to fulfill the request, the canesword-wielding masseur goes on a perilous journey and soon finds himself between a rock and a hard place as rival gangs compete to kidnap his beautiful protégée for a ransom. There will be blood indeed!


Scar Yosaburo
A band of yakuza ruffians mutilate the face of an actor after he is caught with the gang boss’s mistress. A misty, moonlit tale from the Kabuki repertoire and a stirring classic of the most artful category of samurai films, zankoku jidai-geki ("cruel historicals").


Three Untamed Beauties
At the opposite end of the stereotype of docile Japanese women—heroic good mothers, chaste daughters and hardworking faithful wives—actresses Ayako Wakao, Mariko Okada and Meiko Kaji embodied the transgression of limits, breaking rules, flouting norms and generally upsetting everyone.

Tickets and info at: Japan Society