The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 was a final stand by the samurai class against the sweeping reforms of the Meiji government. The Meiji Restoration had ushered in modernization, military conscription, and the abolition of the samurai, dismantling the very social order that had defined Japan for centuries. Many samurai saw these reforms as a betrayal—of their status, their traditions, and their very way of life.
Yet, despite their resistance, Japan as a whole was focused on a singular goal: preventing colonization by foreign powers. The country’s rapid modernization was not just about progress—it was about survival.
The film The Last Samurai captures this tension through the fictional Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a tortured military officer drawn into Japan’s internal struggle. In one pivotal scene, he clashes with Omura, a self-serving official whose commercial interests were tied to Japan’s new capitalist economy. Omura sought to marginalize the samurai, ensuring they had no place in this modernizing world. Algren, repulsed by Omura’s disregard for the human cost of progress, would later find himself identifying with the samurai.
The historical reality was even more brutal. The samurai’s final stand culminated in The Battle of Shiroyama, where Saigō Takamori, once a leader of the Meiji Restoration himself, chose to die for principle rather than accept the new order. Outgunned and vastly outnumbered, his forces fought until their last breath. Saigō, wounded, committed seppuku on the battlefield, his death marking the end of an era.
“Yet, the Samurai had been swept aside by the very nation they wished to protect.”
—Colin Wee, Excerpt from “The Lost Scrolls of Ryūkyū” (Unpublished Manuscript, 2025)
Many misinterpret The Last Samurai—it was not about a foreigner becoming Japan’s last warrior but about a man who chose to stand alongside the last of the samurai, honoring their code, their discipline, and their sacrifice.
By the time the Meiji era ended in 1912, Japan had fully transitioned into a modern imperial power. The samurai were gone. The country was now a rising force in the global arena. But for its annexed territories, such as Okinawa, modernization brought no relief. Okinawans remained dispossessed, their hopes for autonomy growing ever dimmer.
Historical fiction novel The Lost Scrolls of Ryūkyū follows a small group of Okinawans in this era, advocating for the establishment of a new system of Karate—one that could survive the political upheaval around them and improve their cultural security. As Japan entered the Great War, and as militarism took hold of the nation, these men were forced to ask themselves:
Were they building a legacy that would protect people—or a tool that would serve the empire?
Ankō Itosu’s proposal to the Ministry of War included the following in his second precept:
“If children were to begin training naturally in military prowess while in elementary school, then they would be well suited for military service.”
While the visuals of Itosu’s proposal didn’t look all that great in regards to the training of Japanese soldiers, the question was about who it would eventually serve and what it would become.
The Japanese people, too, were being swept into an era they were not fully prepared for. Modernization had cost them their samurai, their stability, and their traditions. And despite Okinawa’s own suffering, its masters saw that their knowledge could help anyone struggling to find their place in a changing world.
The above is a behind-the-scenes look at Colin’s latest historical fiction novel titled “The Lost Scrolls of Ryūkyū.” While you stay tuned for further updates, perhaps you’d care to explore the Occupied Okinawa: A Documentary Film by Robert Kajiwara from Peace for Okinawa Coalition.