It was so cold on the day that the opening sequence with Ogami Itto and Daigoro walking across a desolate wintry landscape that child actor Akihiro Tomikawa started crying and refused to do the scene. The situation was rectified by substituting a dummy for Tomikawa as Daigoro in the long shots.
The epic climatic fight sequence in the snow took a month and a half to shoot. Moreover, the film equipment during the grueling shooting of the finale frequently broke down due to the subfreezing temperatures.
Tomisaburô Wakayama almost collapsed during the lengthy shooting of the epic climactic fight sequence set on a snow-covered mountain.
Even so this is the final movie of the series, it does not display a final confrontation between Ogami and Lord Yagyu, because the end for the manga, in which the movie series is based, was not published until 1976.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #841.