[Slate] "Ikusagami": Modern Questions Raised by the Fall of the Samurai

Survival Drama Set in the Meiji Era
Resonating with an Age of Job Loss and Inequality

Netflix's 'Ikusagami' Still Cut

The Japanese drama "Ikusagami," released by Netflix on November 13, is a survival drama set in the early Meiji era. In the late 19th century, as the samurai era comes to an end, 292 samurai gather to compete in a survival game for a large cash prize. This is not just a simple period piece or entertainment show. By focusing on the theme of survival among a fallen class, it precisely targets issues of anxiety, alienation, and class restructuring in modern society.

The History of the Samurai Class Dissolution

After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government implemented radical reforms to dismantle the feudal system. In 1869, through the "hanseki hokan," daimyo returned their domains to the government, and in 1871, the "haihan chiken" abolished the domains and established prefectures. In 1876, the "Haito Edict" was issued, banning samurai from wearing swords altogether.

The economic foundation of the samurai collapsed almost instantly. Their stipends were abolished and replaced with government bonds called "kinrokukosai," but these rapidly lost value. The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 was an explosion of this discontent. About 40,000 samurai, led by Saigo Takamori, fought against government forces. However, they were defeated in just eight months by a conscript army of 70,000 equipped with modern weapons. This event symbolized the complete end of the samurai class's military role.

"Ikusagami" is set precisely during this period. The characters in the drama are legally commoners, but their identities remain those of samurai. They can no longer wear swords, are forced to cut their topknots, and have lost their stipends. Yet, their pride as warriors and their combat skills remain intact.

This contradiction is at the heart of the drama. For those who have lost their livelihoods, status, and swords, survival is the only thing left to cling to. The game that puts this on the line is not just a device for entertainment. It is an extreme metaphor for the reality faced by a fallen class.

Netflix's 'Ikusagami' Still Cut

The Fall of the Samurai and the Anxiety Over the Disappearance of Modern Jobs

In the drama, the samurai lose their jobs as they are pushed aside by the changing times. This sentiment bears a striking resemblance to today's society. Jobs are disappearing due to automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and workers are being displaced by the restructuring of industrial structures. People today are witnessing the anxiety of being pushed out by the times in one way or another.

"Ikusagami" revisits these emotions through the lens of the fall of the samurai. The process by which a ruling class of hundreds of years loses its means of livelihood in just a few years perfectly mirrors the modern landscape where lifetime employment disappears and careers are abruptly cut off.

After the Satsuma Rebellion, the samurai felt abandoned by the state. In reality, the Meiji government sacrificed the samurai class for modernization. The class that had been maintained for hundreds of years was unilaterally dismantled as needed. This sentiment is being replayed in many countries today. Distrust is spreading as states fail to protect individuals, with welfare cutbacks, weakened job security, and the retreat of social safety nets.

This is precisely why "Squid Game" resonated globally. The premise of people chased by debt and cast out by society risking their lives in a game was a metaphor for the reality in which the state and society fail to protect individuals. "Ikusagami" is no different. Although set against the backdrop of Japanese modern history, it reflects a contemporary context in which viewers worldwide can relate to a shared sense of loss.

The structure in which rules are set from behind the scenes is also the same. Winner-takes-all systems, growing inequality, the difficulty of moving between classes, and collective doubts about the fairness of opportunity. The survival game genre expresses these sentiments most intuitively. The rules are clear but not fair; everyone starts at the same line, but in reality, there are vast differences in resources and information. The winner takes everything, while the loser’s very survival is threatened.

Netflix 'Ikusagami' Still Cut

The Inheritance of Japan's Death Game Tradition

Japan has long developed its own unique death game genre. Koushun Takami's novel "Battle Royale" established the prototype for this genre, followed by works like "Liar Game," "Gantz," "Death Note," and "Alice in Borderland," which further refined its conventions. The common features of these works are clear rules, extreme situations, and the exposure of human nature. "Ikusagami" combines this genre tradition with the ruptures of Japanese modern history. It is the result of skillfully weaving together three axes: historical fact, genre tradition, and global trends.

The original work is a novel of the same name by Shogo Imamura, a Naoki Prize-winning author. The Naoki Prize, along with the Akutagawa Prize, is one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, given to authors recognized for both popularity and literary merit. The drama tells the story of the protagonist, Saga Shujiro (played by Okada Junichi), who enters a dangerous game to treat his wife and child’s illness. 292 samurai gathered at Tenryu-ji in Kyoto compete for a cash prize by following a simple rule: whoever makes it to Tokyo with a wooden tag wins the prize.

Values such as honor, loyalty, and duty, which defined the samurai era, have long since lost their meaning. Samurai who cannot wear swords, warriors without a lord-everything that once defined their identity has vanished. In modern society as well, value systems such as professional ethics, loyalty, and lifetime employment are rapidly collapsing. The era of working at one company for 30 years and preparing for retirement with a severance package is over. Individual careers are now prioritized over loyalty to organizations, and flexibility is valued over stability.

This drama shows how characters rediscover meaning for themselves in an era of collapsing values. Saga enters the game not for samurai honor, but for his family's survival. Where traditional values have fallen, the most primal survival instinct naturally takes their place.

Netflix's 'Ikusagami' Still Cut

The strength of "Ikusagami" lies in its translation of historical sentiment into the language of genre. It vividly portrays the atmosphere of an era when the samurai collapsed, the emptiness of a group whose reason for existence has vanished, and the rage of those abandoned during the national restructuring process. It utilizes history without being subjugated by it, and maintains the thrill of the genre without being consumed by it, achieving a remarkable sense of balance.

At the end of the story, it poses the central modern question: "What choices does a fallen class make for survival?" This is a 21st-century modern critique drama that reconstructs the narrative of decline in Japanese modern history for today's world, and a narrative that directly addresses the global emotions of survival and alienation.