Set during the 19th-century social upheaval that helped bring three centuries of shogunate rule to its knees, The Last Samurai follows Toranosuke (a physically and dramatically impressive Takahashi, former star of Seijun Suzuki's Fighting Elegy and Tattooed Life), a paragon of the valiant samurai who is confused by the changes happening around him. His codes tell him to defend the shogunate on the side of the Shinsengumi militia, but his teacher (Tamura of Yasuzo Masumura's Hoodlum Soldier series) has already defected to the other side and tells him it's time to lay down the sword and look toward the future. When the latter stealthily arranges for Toranosuke to meet the beautiful Reiko (Matsuzaka), the warrior's doubt begin to grow.

Sadako is a young girl in love with Takashi. She's waiting for him to come back from war. When Heibei, the son of the wealthiest man in the village, comes back from war, crippled, she's forced to marry him instead.