The Real History Behind Netflix’s New Samurai Show Last Samurai Standing

Netflix’s newest series, Last Samurai Standing, throws hundreds of warriors into a deadly game. While the story is fictional, it is built on the real and dramatic collapse of the samurai class in 19th century Japan. The show uses this true historical turning point to tell a story about desperate people fighting for survival.

The End of the Samurai Era

The story begins in 1878, a decade after a major historical event known as the Meiji Restoration. This period marked the end of the Edo period, when samurai held significant social and political power. The new Meiji government restored imperial rule and began rapidly modernizing Japan, adopting Western ideas and technology.

This modernization came at a cost for the samurai. The feudal system was abolished, and the warrior class lost its privileged status. A key symbol of this change was the government outlawing the carrying of swords. For samurai, a sword was not just a weapon but the very soul of their identity. This new law, combined with the loss of their stipends, left many samurai jobless and destitute. The series shows how these once-proud warriors struggled to fit into a new, fast-paced world that no longer had a place for them.

The director of the series, Michihito Fujii, sees a parallel between that era and today. He said:

“The people who used to be samurai no longer have the privilege and find it difficult to live. Those people who lost their profession, how would they survive? How would they live? Today, the changes that are happening in Japan, as well as outside of Japan, feel quite similar.”

The Deadly Kodoku Game

At the center of Last Samurai Standing is a brutal survival competition called the Kodoku. While the game itself is fictional, its name is drawn from Japanese folklore. In folklore, Kodoku was a dark magic ritual where poisonous insects were sealed in a jar and left to fight until only one remained. The surviving insect was believed to possess potent toxic power, which was then used for curses.

The series adapts this concept into a deadly tournament. 292 fighters begin the game at Tenryū-ji Temple in Kyoto. Each wears a wooden tag around their neck. To advance, they must travel the historic Tōkaidō road to Tokyo, collecting tags from other competitors by killing them. The rules are strict: contestants must present a specific number of tags at each of the seven checkpoints along the route. Failure to have enough tags, or losing their own, results in death. The show suggests that only nine contestants can potentially reach the final stage.

A Story Rooted in Real Struggle

The main character, Shujiro Saga, is a former samurai driven into the Kodoku by desperation. His family, like many others, is suffering during a deadly cholera outbreak. With no money for medicine, he sees the game’s massive cash prize as his only hope to save his wife and son. This backdrop of disease and poverty reflects the real hardships of the time.

The series also features historical figures. Toshiyoshi Kawaji, the Superintendent-General of Japan’s police service in the show, was a real person who played a key role in establishing Japan’s modern police system. In the series, he is portrayed as a man who hates samurai, believing they stand in the way of Japan’s progress, and he organizes the Kodoku to eradicate them.

The production team aimed to create a show that was both authentic and fresh. Junichi Okada, the star, producer, and action choreographer for the series, stated:

“My hidden goal was to create a new kind of period drama, one that’s also an action drama… Something made entirely in Japan, but made for the world. It’s grounded in serious themes, but the characters are sharply drawn, and the story is truly entertaining.”

To achieve this, the show used real actors for all its large-scale battle scenes, avoiding over-reliance on CGI. One major battle sequence took 300 actors and three weeks to film, aiming for a visceral and realistic feel.

Credits: Netflix Tudum

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