I really disliked this one. When you see how generic the title "Zatoichi on the Road" is (doesn't he travel around in every movie?), you immediately get the feeling that this particular entry in the franchise is going to be bland and generic. And well, it ended up to be just that. The only things you can gather from this movie is that little kids during the Edo period were d*cks because they loved to mock blind people as it seems, and we also learn what Zatoichi's favorite fruit is (which I'm not going to reveal so that you have a reason to watch the film).
The storyline to this film is a bit too reminding of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which came out two years prior, and the similarities especially get apparent during the final showdown scene where the two rivaling yakuza clans are shown each on one side of the town. The main girl in this episode is unfortunately a screaming damsel in distress, but surprisingly there's no romance between her and Zatoichi. Most of the film is carried by a sluggish pace, which is occasionally broken by a short action scene, usually without build-up.
Even on the technical scale is the film a massive step down from the previous episodes. Although the sword-fighting scenes gradually improve as the series go on, it is kinda stupid seeing someone be brutally cut up by a katana, only to face the camera in his dying breath to reveal that his clothes are neither torn nor bloody. I guess this movie was made during the time when real katanas were used on set, but some of its contemporaries nevertheless had awesome fight scenes, so I don't know. The visuals are quite lifeless this time. The movie is mostly shot in pitch black night settings and whenever it's daytime, it has a stunningly boring gray-to-brown color palette. Even the music seems too intrusive at several turns.
Highlight of the movie: the cold opening where Zatoichi kicks ass swiftly and with style, also finding time to throw a killer one-liner, "Darkness is my ally." It's a shame that the rest of the film doesn't live up to the 30-second intro.