well here we go heh heh,
The soldier in the movie (played by Tom Cruise) is a Civil War veteran who after the war continued to serve as an 'Indian Hunter' forgive my non-PC term there, who later travels to Japan with the mission of moderizing the Japanese Army.
American Civil War dates from 1861-1865, so he had to travel to Japan some time after that. The telegraph started to be in use in Japan in 1873 and was in widespread use (thoughout Japan) by 1878. So, in theory, those lines could very well have been pausible as well as plausible for the time period in question.
Thanks for the thread, gave me a chance to look into a rather obscure part of history that I found enjoyable
spaz
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