Japanese samurai warriors were ranked at the top of the Japanese social hierarchy for hundreds of years until 19th century. Shogun were the most powerful samurai who ruled Japan at the time.
Filming of a Warner Bros movie, the Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, was taken place in Japan. Tom Cruise and filming crew visited Japan on Oct. 2002 for a week. Filming was taken place at Engyo-ji Temple in Himeji-city and other places in Kyoto.
The Last Samurai is directed by Edward Zwick and is set in Japan during the 1870s. The film portrays a struggle between two different eras in the beginnings of the modernization of Japan. Tom Cruise plays an American military officer who goes to Japan to train Japan’s modern army. Japanese actors plays samurai warriors who are angry at Westerners.