With their elaborate armour, fierce swordsmanship and strict code of honour, the samurai are iconic warriors, their fame immortalized in films, novels, video games and martial-arts clubs. This is the story of the real `last samurai,' Saigo Takamori. Born in 1827 in Japan's far south, Saigo's life was defined by the samurai ethos: by Bushido, the Way of the Warrior; by the right to bear swords; by death-defying bravado; by faithful service to his lord, the shogun and the semi-divine emperor; and, in defeat or ignominy, by `cutting the belly' in ritual suicide. Japan's closed society, which had rejected firearms for over two centuries, was unable to resist the turbulent forces of modernity. The arrival of American traders and the need for modern armies consigned the world of the individualistic, sword-wielding samurai to the past. But not before they made one last stand, with Saigo at the head of a rebel army...