you cannot escape. we are deep in the mountains and winter is coming.
the barbarian doesn't know hit shame.
ujio-san, he will still be shamed tomorrow or in a month. for now there are things i wish to learn.
they are training.
their minds. it is called bushido.
the wa y of the warrior. we study from when we are young. are my words correct?
i will practice my eng1ish with you.
to know m y enemy.
no, i honor his memory as my kinsman.
if a samurai is defeated in battle, he must take his own life to spare himse1f the shame of capture. it is required that his kaishaku his trusted friend, help him. i was honored to by his kaishaku.
it was his destiny. he knew it, he died at peace.
my son-in-law. his name was hiroshi.
my daughter, hiroshi's wife. her name is taka.
it was an honorable death.
ujio is teaching you the wa y of the japanese sword.
at what age did you become i soldier?
everything.
you have pressing business elsewhere?
was that wise?
why?
you did not try to survive when we took you prisoner.
what do you want for yourself?
we have little use for money.
the snows will melt in may, and the passes will open, and the events of the world will unfold. until that time, you are here. i enjoyed this conversation in your english. i hope you will honor me with more tomorrow.
the parliament of your country has two houses. why is that?
does not a people need a powerful ruler to protect them?
members of the council were required to study .  it. . yes, i was a member of the government. i helped restore the emperor to the throne.
he is my blood. i serve him with my life.
i do not fight the emperor. i fight those who seek to influence him, those who betray the soul of my country.
one man is flexible and compromises too much to avoid conflict. another man is so fierce he wins ever y battle, but so rigid he can never know peace. a man who knows both is the perfect warrior. the lame is true of a blade .  one steel bends, and the other cuts. and where they meet is never perfect hold the blade up. .
some believe a blade is thirsty until it tastes the blood of its enemy.
do you?
mine, too.
tomorrow we will discuss your country's wish for dominance in the"far east."
a perfect blossom is a rare thing.
just sitting.  i do not think i have the word. satori it means, maybe, awareness.
this moment alone, apart from all others .  you know this? i am writing a poem about this time we hive spent. i have only written one line on "his eyes were like my own but seen through a deep and troubled ocean." can you suggest a second line?
and you were sad to see them die in the winter.
you were something before you were a soldier. you were a boy who was sad to see the leaves fall and the trees die.
life in every breath. that is bushido. the wa y of the samurai.
the emperor has requested my presence. we leave tomorrow. you will be released in tokyo.
yes.
against the emperor? never. i serve him. as i have alwa ys done. .
our emperor is young, and there are things i must sa y to him.
we will stop here for the night.
sit, captain.
do you drink tea?
i am having trouble. the truth is i am not a very good poet. do you know wh y you were sent here? to yoshino.
you have seen my province. all mountains. far from tokyo. yet the rail line must come here?
what do they want in my mountains?
japan has nothing. china has ever ything.
add to this the omura zaibatsu. you know the zaibatus?
as patron of the railroad, omura owns all land within four hundred feet of ever y new rail line. as my country grows, so will his wealth. this is why you are fighting.
i do not tell the emperor what to do.
will you return to america?
you should return to your home.
because i do not wish you to be m y enemy again.
go home captain .  anshinritsumai. i wish you peace.
i cannot touch the sacred one.
it was uneventful.
no, highness, i rise against your enemies.
they advise in their own interest.
if i am no use, then i will happily end my life,
it is your voice that needs to be heard, highness. you are a living god, you can do what ever you think is right.
your highness, may i beg forgiveness for saying what a teacher must, that such a statement is pathetic drivel not worthy of an ignorant stable boy, let alone a young man i know to have some modest intelligence.
you are emperor, my lord, not me. you must find the wisdom for all of us.
captain, i had not thought to see you again.
you mean the gatling guns and the howitzers, is that how you sa y it?
yes, if the emperor agrees - but omura knows the emperor must be convinced there is cause to need those weapons before be will sign.
elegant, isn't it? omura passes laws sure to cause a samurai revolt, creating a need for the weapons. the emperor sees that the weapons are needed so he agrees to the entire treaty, giving your country what it wants and the omura zaibatsu what it wants. and my country is sold to yours.
the second banned the wearing of sword.
hand them to me, will you?
not for pride. for the emperor.
he has not signed it yet.
i cannot live without my soul .  can you?
it is my honor to join again the men who are leading japan into her glorious future.
i read ever y edict with singular attention.
this chamber was protected by m y sword for four hundred years--
 we are a nation of whores. selling ourselves to our western "allies."
does japan no longer need its patriots?
a future with no honor,
and lining your own pockets in the process.
this sword serves the emperor, and only he can command me to remove it.
then, with great regret, i must refuse to give up my sword.
the ending is proving difficult.
who is this?
not a book. a play!
i was prepared to die in omura's castle. and yet here i am. i cannot help but ask why were you sent into my life. what is the lesson you were meant to give me?
you. ain't whistlin' dixie.
algren-san.
they are corning.
that is not possible. as omura knows.
how many?
algren-san. have you seen what happens to the villages that stand in the way of the railroad?
that is what will happen to my village if we do not stand and fight. no. we serve the emperor here.
perhaps.
and what would that accomplish?
so m y hair will have a pleasing scent when i meet my ancestors .  .  you do not do this ?
do you really think we can defeat them?
you believe a man can change his destiny?
"i belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new."
tell me .  what happened to those three hundred warriors at thermopylae?
how long?
not my world anymore.
he was kaishaku .  my trusted friend.
this is not your battle. you do not have to die here.
but now you live again.
it was not your time.
help me up.
help me up.
my sword.
you must help me. hold it firmly.
we will ride together again.
it is perfect.  they are all perfect.