Complete cast breakdown of Last Samurai Standing: Who plays who & where you’ve seen them before

Last Samurai Standing returns the focus to a brutal Meiji-era survival game and a cast packed with Japanese heavyweights. Last Samurai Standing follows Shujiro Saga, a former samurai who enters the month-long “Kodoku” race from Kyoto to Tokyo, where only one fighter walks away with the prize.

Set in 1878, it folds the class squeeze, cholera, and the state’s push to erase the samurai into a clear tournament structure. Junichi Okada leads as a family man with a bloody past. Hideaki Ito plays Bukotsu, a feral rival.

Gaku Hamada is police chief Toshiyoshi Kawaji, who weaponises the Kodoku. Abe Hiroshi appears as Gentosai, an old master with lethal intent.

Director Michihito Fujii adapts Shogo Imamura’s novel Ikusagami, and the team frames the action as character-driven and historically grounded.

All six episodes of Last Samurai Standing are now streaming on Netflix after a mid-November launch.

Complete cast list for Last Samurai Standing: Who plays whom and where you’ve seen them

1) Junichi Okada as Shujiro Saga: Okada's previous standout role and character includes Akira Sato in The Fable.

As per the Netflix Tudum report dated November 13, 2025, Junichi Okada said,

“My hidden goal was to create a new kind of period drama, one that’s also an action drama. ... Something made entirely in Japan, but made for the world”

2) Hideaki Ito as Bukotsu Kanjiya: Previous standout role and characters includes Daisuke Senzaki in Umizaru.

In Last Samurai Standing, he is a relentless nemesis who hunts Saga through the Kodoku.

3) Kazunari Ninomiya as Enju: Previous standout roles and characters include Saigo in Letters from Iwo Jima and Kei Kurono in Gantz.

In Last Samurai Standing, Enju appears at key inflexion points around the Kodoku.

4) Shota Sometani as Kocha Kamui: Previous standout role and characters includes Shinichi Izumi in Parasyte Part 1 and Parasyte Part 2.

In Last Samurai Standing, he plays an Ainu archer navigating shifting alliances.

5) Masahiro Higashide as Kyojin Tsuge: Previous standout roles and characters include Tsukuru Mishima in Death Note Light Up the New World and Kaburagi Kazeo in Crows Explode.

In Last Samurai Standing, Tsuge’s motives remain unclear across the season.

6) Gaku Hamada as Toshiyoshi Kawaji: Previous standout roles and characters include Whale Kaijin in Kamen Rider Black Sun and Otaro Urabe in First Love Hatsukoi.

In Last Samurai Standing, Kawaji weaponizes the Kodoku as a power play that sets the season’s stakes and first chapter framing.

7) Abe Hiroshi as Gentosai Okabe: Previous standout role and characters includes Lucius Modestus in Thermae Romae.

In Last Samurai Standing, Gentosai is the old master who once trained Saga and his adopted siblings.

8) Kaya Kiyohara as Iroha Kinugasa: Previous standout roles and characters include young Yae in First Love Hatsukoi and Sumire in The Makanai Cooking for the Maiko House.

In Last Samurai Standing, Iroha becomes a key fighter against Gentosai.

9)Taichi Saotome as Shikura Adashino: Previous standout role and characters includes Renji Abarai in Bleach 2018.

In Last Samurai Standing, Shikura travels the road with his siblings as the Kodoku tightens.

9) Yuya Endo as Sansuke Gion: Previous work spans stage and television. In Last Samurai Standing, he backs Iroha and Shikura when Gentosai strikes.

10) Arata Iura as Toshimichi Okubo: Known for auteur-driven film and television projects. In Last Samurai Standing, he embodies a historic statesman whose fate shapes Kawaji’s rise.

11) Wataru Ichinose as Raizo Tachibana: Previous standout role and characters includes Kiyoshi Oze, known as Enno in Sanctuary. In Last Samurai Standing, Tachibana surfaces as a dangerous rival.

12) Hiroshi Tamaki as Ukyo Kikuomi and Takayuki Yamada as Jinbe Ando: Both add veteran weight to the Kodoku field as the road closes in within Last Samurai Standing.

What did the makers of Last Samurai Standing say?

As per the Netflix Tudum report dated Nov. 13, 2025, Director Michihito Fujii remarked,

“It felt unexpectedly close to our own experience with Covid-19,”

explaining why the period story feels immediate. Junichi Okada added that the aim was global reach through craft and clarity. Okada said:

“It’s grounded in serious themes, but the characters are sharply drawn.”

As per AP News report dated Nov. 12, 2025, Okada stated,

“The purpose we had in mind was to update the jidaigeki,”

outlining how the team studied the "samurai drama genre" and still pursued a fresh approach.

He further noted they wanted “more of a story, and more depth in character portrayal,” while keeping practical action front and center.

Stay tuned for more updates.