When the Daiei studio closed its doors in 1971, their biggest chanbara star Shintaro Katsu already had his own production company Katsu Production set up, and a distribution deal signed with Toho. With most directors and actors now liberated from their long-term contracts with the ailing major studios, and film work harder to come by, Katsu was able to pick and choose from a teeming pool of talent and lined up a series of high-profile projects. He cast Toshiro Mifune and Ayako Wakao to co-star with him in Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, paired his brother Tomisaburo Wakayama with his favourite Daiei director Kenji Misumi for the Lone Wolf and Cub series, and lured Ken Takakura and Meiko Kaji into his fold for The Homeless, a loose remake of French director Robert Enrico's Les Aventuriers (1967).