The first Zatoichi film after the Daiei Motion Picture Company went bankrupt and the Toho Company took over the films for the rest of the decade (along with Shintarô Katsu's own Katsu Productions, which coproduced the films since 1967).
Unlike many Hong Kong and Taiwanese films (including an Ozploitation film The Man from Hong Kong (1975)) he ever performed in the 70s, this was the only film Jimmy Wang Yu's real voice can be heard from start to finish, which means it was filmed in live sound where each actor's voice is captured during filming.
This is the twenty-second of 26 films to star Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi.
The one-armed swordsman, Yu Wang, or Wang Kong, as portrayed by Jimmy Wang Yu, appeared in eighteen films prior to 'Zatoichi & the One Armed Swordsman' (1971). Conversely, Shintaro Katsu appeared in twenty one films prior to this, portraying Zatoichi. This film marks a notable cinematic crossover of both a popular Japanese cinematic hero and a popular Chinese cinematic hero.
The U.S. release used the Chinese version which was subtitled in English.