What does “samurai” conjure up for you? A virtuous Japanese warrior in immaculate armour, who’s scarily handy with a sword?

It’s always the ones you least suspect. Sort of. When you really think about it, “the founder of modern Japan’s police force” actually is a prime candidate for the “anti-samurai mastermind” position.

As the Meiji Era begins, an honorable samurai is forced to fight again, so that his family may live. The six-episode Last Samurai Standing, directed and co-written by Michihito Fujii, and based on the ...

Yasuke concerns Japan’s first Black samurai, although a history lesson is not what’s provided by this six-part Netflix anime series. Enlivened by a cross-cultural spirit that blends East and West—and ...