Near the end of the fishing season, Kyubei's young and rowdy son Tetsu, believed to be lost at sea in the Philippines, miraculously returns and decides to confront Jakoman.

[8][9] Takakura had seen the 1949 Toho version when it was first released and was so excited that he couldn't sleep at night, so he asked Shigeru Okada, then the director of Toei's Tokyo Studio, to let him do it.

[12] Mifune, who happened to be alone in the room, stood up to welcome Takakura's visit and made him some tea.

[15] In the summer the area is crowded with fishermen and swimmers from Sapporo, but in the winter it becomes a lonely fishing village.

[16] Every day the cast and crew were treated to a feast of seafood, including hockey pike, but Takakura hated fish and could only eat squid sashimi.

[15] Toshiro Mifune, who played Tetsu in the earlier 1949 film adaptation, had worn a rubber pants on his lower body and had been naked on his upper body,[17] but the night before the location shooting, Takakura claimed, "If it'll make a good movie, I'll do it in just a loincloth.