Shōgun (novel)

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Shōgun

1990s paperback edition
Author James Clavell
Cover artist Ed Vebell (illustrated edition only)
Country United States, United Kingdom
Language English
Series Asian Saga
Genre(s) Historical fiction
Publisher Delacorte Press (US) Hodder & Stoughton (UK)
Publication date 1975
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 1152 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN ISBN 044008721X (US) - ISBN 0340203161 (UK)
Preceded by first book of series
Followed by Tai-Pan
This page is about the James Clavell novel. For other meanings of Shōgun, see Shogun (disambiguation).

Shōgun is the first novel (chronologically speaking) in James Clavell's Asian Saga. It is set in feudal Japan in the year 1600 some months before the critical battle of Sekigahara, and gives an account of the rise of the daimyo "Toranaga" (possibly in reference to the real-life Tokugawa Ieyasu) to the Shogunate, seen through the eyes of an English sailor whose fictional heroics are loosely based on William Adams' exploits.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

John Blackthorne, pilot and acting captain of the Dutch warship Erasmus, is shipwrecked on the coast of Japan. He and his crew are taken captive and confined to a pit for a few days, until, in the eyes of their captors, they begin to act like 'civilized' men. The samurai (Omi-san) in charge of them dumps fish offal onto the crew whenever they misbehave. Eventually, Omi-san tells Blackthorne that he and his crew must pick someone to die the next day. He also specifies that Blackthorne is not to be chosen. Eventually, Blackthorne ends up at the house of the daimyo, Yabu-san. Yabu originally plans to keep the guns and money recovered from Blackthorne's ship, but is betrayed by a spy who has informed his lord, Toranaga, of the ships arrival. The daimyo turns Blackthorne over to the custody of his lord, Toranaga. While in the household, Blackthorne is given the title Anjin, meaning "pilot," by the Japanese because they can't pronounce his name. Blackthorne insists that Omi-san apply the honorary suffix -san and so Blackthorne is henceforth known as Anjin-san.

Blackthorne is interviewed by Toranaga, with a Jesuit priest serving as translator. Blackthorne, an Englishmen and a Protestant, attempts to turn Toranaga against the Jesuits. In doing so, he reveals to an unknowing Toranaga that the Christian faith is divided, and other European countries intend to sail the Asian waters since the Spanish Armada was defeated. The interview ends when Toranaga's rival, Ishido, enters the room, curious about the 'barbarian' Blackthorne. Toranaga has Blackthorne thrown in prison for piracy to keep him from Ishido. In prison, Blackthorne is befriended by a Dominican priest, who reveals further details about the Jesuits conquests and the "Black Ship" trade. Japan needs Chinese silk, but cannot deal with the Chinese directly. The Portuguese act as an intermediary, shipping the merchandise in their Black Ship, at great profit for the Portuguese. During this same time, Blackthorne learns more Japanese.

Blackthorne is taken out of prison by Ishido's men, but Toranaga intervenes. In their next interview, Toranaga has a different translator, the Lady Mariko, a convert to Christianity who is torn between her new faith and her native culture.

As this is going on, Toranaga is being threatened with being ordered to commit ritual suicide by the council of regents. To escape the plot, he must get out of Osaka Castle, which he does by taking the place of a woman in litter with a train of travelers leaving the castle. Blackthorne inadvertently spots the exchange and, when Ishido shows up at the gate of the castle and almost uncovers the plot, Blackthorne saves Toranaga by first saying that, in his country, it is bad luck for a lord to give anything directly to a servant girl, then feigning madness to avoid losing his head over the insult. In this way, he gradually gains the trust of and enters the service of Toranaga, a powerful feudal warlord who rules over the "Kwanto" (the real-life Kantō region) plain, the site of modern-day Tokyo.

Despite a rocky start, Blackthorne slowly gains an understanding of the Japanese people and their culture, and eventually learns to respect it deeply. The Japanese, in turn, are torn over Blackthorne's presence; He is a cultural outsider, a leader of a disgracefully filthy and uncouth group of rabble (his ship's crew), but he is also a formidable sailor, and navigator. As such, he is both beneath their contempt and incalculably valuable. A turning point in this perception is Blackthorne's attempt at seppuku. He demonstrates willingness to commit suicide with honour which deeply impresses the Japanese, but is stopped as he is far more valuable alive than dead. The Japanese grow to respect the "barbarian" in turn and he is eventually granted the status of samurai and hatamoto. As they spend more time together, Blackthorne and Mariko become intimate.

Blackthorne is torn between his love for Mariko (who is married to a powerful samurai, Buntaro), his growing loyalty to Toranaga, and his desire to return to the open seas aboard Erasmus and capture the "Black Ship," a treasure-laden Portuguese vessel. Eventually, he reunites with the survivors of his original crew and is so astonished at how far he's come away from the standard European way of life (rare bathing, meat-eating) and is disgusted by what he sees. Blackthorne's plans to attack the Black Ship are complicated by his friendship with that vessel's pilot.

In parallel with this plot, the novel also details the power struggle between Toranaga and Ishido (two great daimyos or feudal lords), and the political maneuvering of the Christians (Catholics), particularly the Jesuits. Some of the plot is driven by Blackthorne's enmity for the Jesuits, Spanish and Portuguese, and his revelation to the Japanese that Catholics are not the only Christians. There is also conflict between Christian daimyos (who are motivated in part by a desire to preserve and expand their Church) and the daimyos who oppose the converts in favor of the native Shinto and Buddhist faiths.

The climax of the maneuverings comes when Mariko volunteers to go to Osaka Castle and face down Ishido. Ishido has numerous family members of other daimyos hostage in Osaka, referring to them as guests. (the "alternate attendance system") As long as he has these hostages then other daimyos, including Toranaga, will not attack him. Ishido hopes to lure or force Toranaga into the Castle and, when all the regents are there, obtain an order for Toranaga to commit suicide.

Mariko volunteers to go to the castle, then (with Toranaga's order for her to leave) defies Ishido and forces him to either dishonor himself by dishonoring Mariko, a lady of the first rank, or back down. When Mariko tries to leave the castle, a battle ensues until she is forced to give up. However, she states that since she cannot obey an order from her liege lord, Toranaga, she will commit suicide. As she is about to do so, Ishido comes up and gives her the papers to leave the castle the next day. That night, a unit of ninjas Ishido hired slips into the castle and attempts to kidnap Mariko, with the help of Toranaga's vassal, Yabu. However, she and Blackthorne (who accompanied her but was not aware of Mariko's plot) and other ladies of the castle escape into a locked room. As the ninjas blow the door down, Mariko steps up to the door and declares that this is her act of suicide.

Mariko is killed and Blackthorne injured, but he and the other ladies of the castle are allowed to leave the castle. Blackthorne discovers that his ship has been burned, ruining his chances of attacking the Black Ship, getting rich and sailing home to England. However, Toranaga gives him money and men to start building a new ship. Toranaga orders Yabu to commit suicide for his treachery.

A recurring motif in the book is Toranaga engaging in falconry. He compares his various birds to his vassals and mulls over his handling of them, flinging them at targets, giving them morsels to bring them back to his fist, and re-hooding them. The last scene involves Toranaga letting his prize falcon free as he reveals his inner monologue: he has burned Blackthorne's ship himself as a way to placate the Christian daimyos and bring them to his side against Ishido; he will encourage Blackthorne to build another one and then burn that one too. It is Blackthorne's karma to never leave Japan, Mariko's karma to die for her lord, and his own karma, his true purpose to be a major daimyo, destroying the Taiko's heir to become Shogun. In the brief epilogue, after the final battle of Sekigahara, Toranaga has Ishido buried up to his head when captured by his men.

The book is divided into 6 Books, the 3rd being the longest. It contains extremely intricate plots and counter-plots and straddles the line between historical drama (tinged with romance, sex, courage, duty, and religious beliefs) and political drama.

[edit] Historical accuracy

As with Clavell's other novels, the setting and many characters are based on actual events, which set the stage for the novel. The main characters in Shogun are based on historical figures:

The ship's name of Erasmus is most likely taken from the original name of the ship De Liefde, the Dutch ship piloted by William Adams which made landfall on the coast of Japan in 1600. The real Erasmus was renamed to fit in with the names of the other four ships of the expedition leaving Holland in 1598.

The book contains several anachronisms. For one thing, the "Banzai" charge cry began to be used some time after Blackthorne's time frame. Additionally, early on in the book a character is said to practice judo, which had not yet been developed. However, Japanese martial arts were being referred to as "way of softness" (柔道 jūdō?) as early as 1724, almost two centuries before Kano Jigoro founded the modern art of judo).[1] It is not clear if this is being referred to or if the author was unaware of the history. Another is that Japanese warfare had included mass musketry in ranks since at least 1575 at the Battle of Nagashino rather than having been introduced by Blackthorne.

Tokugawa Ieyasu did not order the expulsion of European traders, which occurred much later in history. Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered audits of traders expenses put into writing to be delivered to him for the purposes of rooting out outsider influences.

In James Clavell's later novels it is revealed that, just as in real history, Toranaga eventually besieged Ochiba and Yaemon in their castle, prompting them to commit suicide.

He also mentioned Mercator to be Dutch, whilst he was Flemish, though in the age of exploration the distinctions were neither clearcut nor widely known.

In the novel Vinck goes insane and dies when he realizes that like Blackthorne he is trapped forever in Japan; Van Lodensteijn actually did adapt himself to living in Japan and died of drowning in 1623. Likewise in the novel the "Esramaus" Ships Captain dies soon after arrival in Japan; in fact Jacob Quaeckernaeck survived; furthermore in the novel none of Blackthorne's crew is ever allowed to leave Japan; in fact Quaeckernaeck and Melchior van Santvoort were allowed to leave Japan in 1604 {reportably Van Santvoort and another of Adams shipmates were living in Nagasaki in 1629}. Also Blackthorne's ship is burned secretly on Toranaga orders while a second to be built by Blackthorne will also be burned by Toranaga orders. In fact "Der Liefe" was not burned but rotted away in 1607; Adams did build two ships for Tokugawa-such as the Japanese warship San Buena Ventura- which were used by Tokugawa to send shipwrecked Spanish sailors back home from Japan. Likewise see the article "Hosokawa Gracia in popular culture" for the differences between "Mariko" of the Novel and the real Hosokawa Gracia.

[edit] Adaptations

The novel has been adapted as a groundbreaking television miniseries, a Broadway musical, and several computer games, including an Infocom text adventure called James Clavell's Shogun.

The television miniseries, Shogun, was produced in 1980. Nine hours long (twelve, including advertisements), it was broadcast over five nights. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Shimada, and John Rhys-Davies. It was edited into a two-hour version for theatrical release.

There have been three computer games based on the Shogun novel. Two text-based adventure games with sparse graphics were produced for the Amiga and PC, and marketed as James Clavell's Shogun and Shogun (Mastertronic). A unique graphical Virgin Entertainment adventure game, Shōgun, was also produced for the Commodore 64 by "Lee & Mathias" in 1986. None of these games remain available for purchase.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mol, Serge (2001). Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryū Jūjutsu. Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International Ltd., 24-54. ISBN 4-7700-2619-6. 

[edit] External links

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