The film was made as part of Toho's 30th anniversary, being one of five big budget banner releases that included Kurosawa's Sanjuro, Honda's original King Kong vs. Godzilla, Naruse's A Wanderer's Notebook, and Chiba's Born in Sin.
When Oishi reads the final number of men who have arrived, he says "46" in the spoken Japanese dialog, though the English subtitles read "47".