The Grave of the Real Last Samurai: Forget Tom Cruise (I know this might be hard for some) the real last Samurai wasn't a white guy. The real last Samurai was Saigo Takamori. Although the character Katsumoto in The Last Samurai is loosely based on Saigo Takamori, I don't why they don't make movie about the him. 1 2
Saigo Takamori was instrumental in bringing about the Meiji restoration, fighting to restore the power of the Emperor. Then he lead the Satsuma Rebellion because he thought changes had gone too far, as the samurai had lost their power. Eventually his rebellion was crushed and he hid out in a cave where he committed seppuku (ritual suicide). A few years after his death he was hailed as hero for preventing Japan from totally losing its culture and publicly exonerated by Emperor Meiji. 1 3
