The abrupt ending of the film is due to the fact that it was originally intended to be the first part in a trilogy of films based on a lengthy Japanese novel. Nakazato Kaizan's 41 volume historical novel focused on the Edo period in Japanese history when the shogunate collapsed and a new government arose that revolved around the Emperor. It was the longest novel in Japan - encompassing 1533 chapters and over 5 and a half million Japanese characters - until the publication of Sohachi Yamaoka's serialized novel "Tokugawa Ieyasu", which is reportedly the longest novel in any language.
Jim Jarmusch has said the film helped him to stop smoking and watched it every day until he did.
The distinct straw hat worn by the character Ryunosuke Tsukue (portrayed by Tatsuya Nakadai) is a traditional Japanese straw hat often associated with ronin. The style of hat is known as roningasa. 'Ronin' meaning masterless and wandering samurai, and 'gasa' meaning hat."
This is the sixth film to feature both Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshirô Mifune, and it is the second of which not to be directed by Akira Kurosawa.
The film was originally intended to be the first part of a trilogy based on a story by Kaizan Nakazato. However, due to how violent the film was; particularly the film's climax, it was decided that the sequels were too violent to film.