Though this movie uses a white American actor, it depicts Japan opening up to the "West" and changing the course of their country from a traditional isolated nation to a modern open state. The clash of culture is seen between "samurai" culture to one of business interests wanting to change the country. This can be used in any history classroom to showcase how Japan deals with modernization during the 1800s and what has changed and continued over time from pre-westernization to post Samurai. It can also be used to show periodization and how Japan has two distinct periods. Used in conjunction with primary sources this would be also a great way to see how the film has many factual inaccuracies.
As stated above, this film has cast a white man to tell the story of the Japanese Samurai in Warrior Japan. This story could have been told trough the perspective of the traditional samurai using a Japanese actor and would have been just as strong. There are several aspects of the film I do like and that is the depiction of what it might have been like in Japan during the rule of the shoguns (even though there are many historic inaccuracies, as pointed out below). The film also does a good job of contrasting the western vs. eastern view if what life is all about and what society should value. I feel that students would respond to the beauty of the setting and the focus on the concept of honor. I foresee using this film as an avenue to teach critical media literacy and why we should not rely on Hollywood to teach us history.
When I saw the trailer to this movie, I would have never guessed that it could be used in a US history class. I thought it took place way before the US was even established. I will watch this movie and maybe use this in my class. Films make a great opportunity to compare with primary sources.