pleasure, captain.
if you please, captain.
you're guests of the emperor. you cannot walk.
so you won't have to burden your eyes by looking at slaves. oh, excuse me, they're servants now. this wa y, gentlemen.
twenty years ago yokohama was a lovel y little port. then your commodore perry arrived and changed all that.
japan has. embraced.  western wa ys. hired lawyers from france, doctors from germany, naval architects from britain, civil engineers, railway designers, scientists, teachers. and, of course, warriors from the united states.
or selling the past.
correct. and this-- . is your bed.
your pillow.
for its entire history japan his been completely aakoku, i "closed country." thirty years ago, if you had washed up on japanese soil.  you would have been beheaded on sight. now, they let you keep your head.  and give you a wooden pillow.
i remember when it was just america and the dutch. now ever ybody' s getting into the game.
the germans are particularly eager.
same thing your country wants. most favored nation status.
oh, western time quickly loses its meaning here .  i first came as part of the british legation in 1857. but i was soon relieved of m y position, as a result of various. disagreements with the crown's attitude toward the locals.
remember that he is arahitogami. a god in human form. during the last two hundred years no emperor was even seen by commoner. you may look at him, with deference, but do not speak unless you are spoken to.
that "pup" runs the country no more than i do. he was installed as a figurehead at age twelve when the warlords realized japan needed a central government. but don't be fooled -- he may be a powerless god, but to these people he's a god nonetheless.
gentlemen, may i present general yoshitaka. he will assist you in training the army.
no flag.
 i've been doing this for years. trying to capture it before it's all gone. afraid i'm losing the battle.
ah.  now this should be interesting.  he's waiting for them to show deference.
that. is a samurai.
 before the edicts ever y citizen had to prostrate himself in the presence of a samurai.
the council of state has been passing a series of laws designed to eliminate the samurai.
because you are here now, sergeant.  for the last 800 years guarding japan and fighting her wars was the exclusive occupation of the samurai.
men like mori katsumoto were the most elite caste in japanese societ y until the council of state -- led by your friend omura - decided the whole class had to go .  .  most of the samurai accepted the new laws. but some didn't. or couldn't. like katsumoto.
general yoshitaka bids you to remember that the word samurai means "one who serves." their whole existence is based on serving their country as warriors.
sake. rice wine.
vexing people, the samurai. blood-thirsty, honorable, cruel, fabulousl y artistic. wanted to write a book about them for years, but no westerner can get close enough.
he is samurai.
the samurai don't use guns.
colonel bagley requires you.
it's the symbol for the omura zaibatsu.
old family businesses that own ever ything worth owning. the molt powerful is the omura zaibatsu. that's your friend, omura.
they do now.
yes. of course.
leave? wh y would you leave now? no white man has ever been in your position. do you have any idea what it will mean to have omura as your friend? you want land, you want women, you want boys?
nathan. i wanted to leave, too. for three years. you must believe me there is a majest y about these people -- can you imagine what your own country would be if it had half the drive and the discipline and the belief and the bravery of these ridiculous little people?
my god, it's the edicts.
don't be stupid.
thought i'd missed you. were you going to leave without even saying goodbye?
you sod. christ, give us. . second here
you're making a mistake, i promise you. katsumoto's under house arrest, omura's made his move -- he'll need you more than ever --
oh, my goodness. how silly of me.  all that time you were with him, up in those mountains, .  . i told you they were a remarkable people.
then you should get out. because omura will become rather impatient with anyone who isn't on the team.
case in point.
ronin would be m y guess. disgraced samurai doing odd jobs for his nibs.
to make sure you're on the side of god and country, or to make sure you get the hell out.
look who's getting sentimental now.
an honor. i have followed your activities with great interest. i think the european public would be fascinated by a book about your adventures.
what is it:? .
captain?
as you suggest.
i will.
and so the days of the samurai had ended.
and in the years to come the rising sun of imperial japan would fl y in triumph over korea, over russia, even over china. nations, like men, it is sometimes said, have their own destiny
as for the american captain, no one knows what became of him. all that is left is his journal which i have published, according to his last request.
some lay he died of his wounds, others that he returned to his own country.
but i like to think he may have found at last some small measure of the peace we all seek, but few of us ever find.
Anshinritsumai.