The traditional rounded hats seen worn by the Yakuza in the film are sandogasa. Translated this means 'travel hat'.
Zatoichi's katana is a shikomizue. This is a sword which is concealed within a wooden cane, thus the cane itself is both handle and scabbard.
Constable Tobei (portrayed by Hisaya Morishige) carries a hook in the film. This was the Japanese jitte (jitte meaning 'ten hands'). Police in Edo Period Japan carried these to denote their rank of constable.
While Zatoichi is repeatedly referred to as a masseur in the English subtitles, the Japanese term Anma would be more correct. Anma was both the term used for the practice and the generally nomadic practitioner of Japanese massage. In fact, edicts were passed so that massage was solely a vocation for the blind, forbidden to be learned by any with sight.
The twenty-third of 26 films to star Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi.