Miwa Takada's first appearance in a Zatoichi movie. She would later on appear in two more movies from this series, Adventures of Zatoichi (1964) and Zatoichi Challenged (1967), playing different characters.
This is the fourth of 26 films to star Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi.
Zatoichi's katana is a shikomizue. This is a sword which is concealed within a wooden cane, thus the cane itself is both handle and scabbard.
This film is part of the jidai-geki genre, which translates to 'period drama'. It is also a 'chanbara' (sword fighting) film.
Tanakura (portrayed by Jutaro Hôjô / Kitashiro) is seen carrying two blades throughout the film. The long sword which he carries is a katana. Katanas were used by samurai for duelling and combat. The shorter blade is a wakizashi. These were short swords which would most commonly be associated with performing seppuku.