The castle was besieged during the 1887 Satsuma Rebellion ... scenes from two of his classic samurai movies, Ran and Kagemusha, there. After the Kato clan was replaced by the Hosokawa in 1632 ...

Although the shogun’s forces had 15,000 men to the Satsuma-Choshu’s 5,000 ... and headed north in hopes to rally the Aizu clan’s samurai. They became the core of the so-called Northern ...

from the descriptions of traditional tea ceremonies and the intricate designs of samurai armor to the political machinations within the Satsuma clan. The author seamlessly weaves these details ...