When future catches past
In Japan’s last stance.
When the future seems cast
The last warriors take a chance.
They advance with strange valour,
Toward impending Death
Outnumbered and Outgunned
Surrounded – Sixty to one
Within a flash, or even a glance
Reduced to forty, they still advance.
They fight valiantly, But for what cause?
They rather suicide over capture,
And even in death,
Their eyes gleam with rapture.
To the last sword
For the last drop
Till the last scream
Till the flag falls
Till no guns speak
And no man seeks
On that hill he did die
That last Samurai.
Inspired by 'Saigō Takamori' and by the phrase 'death before dishonour'. "Saigō Takamori's army numbered around 40,000, dwindling to about 400 at the final stand at the Battle of Shiroyama, they fought for the preservation of the role of the samurai. Legend has it, that on being injured on the battlefield, Takamori committed seppuku, a traditionally Japanese ritual of suicide by disembowelment.