Who Was Saigo Takamori, the Last Samurai?

The stuff of legends and Hollywood movies, Japan's samurai are known for tradition and swordsmanship. But their last defender came to symbolize a conflict over modernization.

Standing six feet tall, Saigo Takamori—seen here in a statue from 1898 in Ueno Park, Tokyo—would not be considered an especially tall man now. But he was a giant compared with the Japanese average at that time, an effect heightened by his broad neck, square shoulders, and large, penetrating eyes with bristly eyebrows.

Photograph by Gary Conner, Getty Images
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