Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (座頭市千両首, Zatōichi senryō-kubi) is a 1964 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kazuo Ikehiro starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (later acquired by Kadokawa Pictures).

Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay respects at the grave of a man he killed two years earlier.

Ichi gladly joins in while the locals sing of their hero Chuji- who lives in the hills with a troupe, hiding from the constabulary while protecting the villagers.

As they transport the gold to the local intendant (Gundayu) they are ambushed by three samurai (led by Jushiro, who wields a whip) and then by a larger band.

When the robbers chase the chest of gold to the base of the hill, they find Ichi sitting atop it smoking his pipe.

He recognizes her and reassures her that he is blind and can see nothing (else he would be peeking, and at this he squirts two men who are peeping through a window on the roof) and they briefly talk.

Monji has just been promoted to head of the local constabulary and received his jitte (one pronged iron truncheon) as mark of office.

Ichi hears them coming and raises the alarm system the bandits set up at the bottom of the mountain, attracting the police and killing many of them to allow the others more time to escape.

The next morning in an inn, Monji talks with Jushiro about their plan, but the other two samurai are disgruntled at being treated poorly when they learn of a blind gambler doing well at the dice hall.

They approach him and after Jushiro cuts a mon coin in half by throwing his sword in the air, they bet Ichi 35 Ryō that he can't do the same.

[2] Video Watchdog described the film as "comparatively audacious" compared the earlier Zatoichi films, with director Kazuo Ikehiro "extends his experimental touch to key montages (scenes of frantic villagers are connected by a series of swish-pans, including one that propels us in an unexpected vertical direction).