The Age of Samurai:  Battle for Japan , a 2021 Netflix docu-drama, is one of those  Rotten Tomatoes  scores with divergent results:  100% by reviewers and 54% by the audience.  I found it rewarding for one simple reason.  All my life I've watched samurai films, and had no idea how they fit into the history of Japan.  Now, I have a good sense and can reflect back on where certain warriors fit. The production, in six episodes, begins in 1551 with the death of feudal lord Oda Nobuhide, and rise of his son Oda Nobunaga, transition to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who united the country, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who brought stability for more than a quarter millennium, 1603 to 1868 ( called the Edo Period ), the final conclusion of Japan's isolation, when Commodore Matthew Perry began to open up the country to the West in 1854 during the  Meiji Restoration .  The  Tokugawa shoguns  had banned all foreigners. A samurai ( around  8%  of...

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