He causes a disturbance at a gambling house when he discovers that the dice are being switched by a man hidden under the table.

Zatoichi and Hachi collect Japanese brown frogs to sell in town as a source of medicine in exchange for money to use for eating and drinking.

They encounter the Ake-Tayu Company, a group of traveling entertainers led by Ake and featuring lead actor Ranmaru, Okon the "walking princess", Oso the shamisen player, prop master Tanesuke, white-haired Yohei, drummer Soba, and recorder player Some.

The group is heading toward the inn in Hanagari to meet with Boss Asakawa to prepare to stage a comedy show in Otsuko for the fall festival.

Gonzo refuses to fight the blind man so Asakawa fires him and hires Zatoichi as his new bodyguard.

Ryunosuke brings the drunken Hachi to the site of the play and encounters Ake but they barely speak to each other.

Gonzo applies to be Kumakachi's bodyguard while Okon pretends to be a medium sensing malicious spirits attacking the house of Akasawa in order to gain the attention of his guards.

Asakawa kidnaps Ake during a fight near the stage but loses her again when Okon sets fire to fuel in a store room in Akasawa Mansion.

Okyo and Ocho arrive to avenge their slain brothers Cho and Ryo but Ryunosuke defeats them, then kills Gonzo and embraces Ake.

[5][6] In a review for Bleeding Cool, reviewer Rich Johnston wrote that "Miike had a background in experiment theatre before he became a filmmaker, and here he brings an almost avant-garde sense of minimalism to the staging, relying on basic, abstract sets and special lighting to go from naturalist village settings to a more abstract atmosphere suggesting Zatoichi’s state of mind, and also alternating between traditions of bawdy humour, pathos and choreographed action in both theatre and movies.

"[7] Writing for Midnight Eye, Tom Mes noted that "Takashi Miike’s 2007 stage version, starring Show Aikawa in the title role, adhered firmly to the Misumi tradition" in that it "demonstrated a certain reticence in the use of violence" unlike other adaptations that "amped up the violence".