Last night, I saw this movie. It's called The Blind Samurai: Zatoichi, and it's a new film from Beat Takeshi. It's honestly one of the best samurai movies I've ever seen. At first the gore looks a little fake, but after 10 minutes or so, it goes right along with the movie. The acting and the action is TOP NOTCH!
Zatoichi is based on the 25 (26?) Zatoichi movies already made. They were made back in the 70s, in black and white. In this remake Kitano Takeshi (a.k.a. Kitano of Battle Royale) plays Zatoichi, a blind samurai that poses as a masseur, and hides his sword in a walking cane.
Playing the rival of Zatoichi, Hattori, another badass samurai, is Tadanobu Asano. He was also in Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, another amazing Japanese movie. Hattori takes a job as a bodyguard to a gang lord to get money for medicine to heal his sick wife.
Do yourself a favor and see this AMAZING samurai film!