Shogun

Blackthorne visits his European shipmates near Yedo. Van Nekk has lice. The Captain-General died in the pit, while Maetsukker died after his arm rotted. The men stink, which it bothers Blackthorne, as does the fact that there are six women there, entertaining the dirty sailors. After a flea bites Blackthorne’s leg, he realizes that the Europeans have settled in an eta village. Etas are a low, unclean class who perform tasks that are disgusting by Japanese standards—they are butchers and handle corpses. When the men begin drinking again Blackthorne leaves without telling them that he is now a samurai.

As soon as he can, he takes a bath, feeling dirty just from having been in the men’s company. His disgust at the fact that they feel most comfortable in the lowest dregs of Japanese society makes him prejudiced against them; the cognitive dissonance of hating his home culture disturbs him.

In the morning, samurai take him to Erasmus, where he finds his sea chest empty. His rutters and navigation instruments are gone. 

Blackthorne’s consort Fujiko appears. Her legs still hurt, but the burns are healed much better than Blackthorne has ever seen. Blackthorne talks with Mariko, who is evasive. She had said earlier that their journey must end at Yedo’s first bridge. He wonders what she is planning.

Toranaga asks if Blackthorne is satisfied with the quality of the ship. 200 samurai will be enough to crew it, along with his men, gunners, and cooks.

Toranaga’s son Sudara, Sudara’s wife Genjiko, and Naga enter. Toranaga accuses Sudara of treason and orders them to put their children to death. Sudara leaves to kill his children, but his children are already in Toranaga’s care—this scene has been a test of loyalty. The children enter the room and Toranaga hugs them.

Yabu and Naga have been ordered to the conference chamber along with 50 senior generals, 23 counselors, and seven daimyos. Everyone leaves their swords outside, grumbling about being disarmed. Toranaga and Sudara enter; Toranaga accuses some of the gathered of having considered treason, which in his definition means any deviation from orders and any questioning of his will. A general, Kiyoshio, admits that he is guilty of treason in those terms, but counters that it would also be treason to Toranaga’s honor to surrender to Ishido. Toranaga orders Kiyoshio to die by seppuku, but Sudara stands and says that he does not believe anyone is committing treason. Toranaga renounces him as heir and leaves. 

Blackthorne has been confined to the castle for five days to study Japanese. Mariko visits him, though she is not supposed to, and tells him to do his duty and give Fujiko a baby. Blackthorne realizes that he no longer feels desire for his English wife Felicity. His memories of England now seem unclean. He decides to just be a pilot, like he was before he was a samurai, Mariko’s lover, and one of Toranaga’s vassals.

Hiro-matsu believes it is his duty to stop Toranaga from surrendering to the Regents. He tells Toranaga that this does not make him a traitor, because he will win, and a victor cannot commit treason. Toranaga says he never intended to go to Osaka—the capitulation was a ruse. Hiro-matsu must tell the generals that he persuaded Toranaga to listen to reason, and to maintain the charade of the coming surrender to buy Toranaga more time.

Blackthorne thinks he can control the priests if he can delay the trip to Osaka. Mariko agrees to help but won’t betray the church. Alvito and Yabu arrive, making Blackthorne remember Pieterzoon—the man Yabu boiled alive. Blackthorne hates Yabu all over again. Yabu asks Alvito why the Christian daimyos are against Toranaga, but Alvito protests that they are not.

Two samurai bring the ship’s strongbox to Blackthorne. It is filled with silver. Yabu says that Toranaga releases Blackthorne: He can leave Japan and pay his men. While in Japan, he retains his status as hatamoto. Outside, however, it is as before—he is an outsider without privilege. Yabu also gives Blackthorne 200 samurai—ronin who now swear allegiance to Blackthorne. One of them is the ex-Christian Brother Joseph—now known as Uraga, he has accepted Shinto Buddhism.

Later, Yabu tells his wife, Yuriko, that he thinks Toranaga wants him to be commander. He thinks that Toranaga is a shadow of his former self, and that he would never be able to execute Crimson Sky in his current state. Yabu’s brother Mizuno arrives with a coded message from Omi that says Buntaro is a traitor who met with Zataki twice at Mishima. It also says that Hiro-matsu is prepared to commit treason and will enact Crimson Sky no matter what Toranaga or Sudara say, if he deems it necessary. Yuriko predicts that Toranaga has no intention of going to Osaka. She believes he is playing them all for fools and will become the President of the Council of Regents, having guessed his plan with clues from Omi.

Mariko has also guessed Toranaga’s plan. Gyoko visits her and claims that when Toranaga asked her about whether Mariko and Blackthorne were sleeping together, Gyoko denied it. Gyoko reveals that Lord Kiyama—a Christian daimyo on the Council of Regents—paid the Amida Tong assassin to kill Blackthorne. Gyoko ends with one last secret: Kiku is pregnant, and either Blackthorne or Toranaga is the father. 

Blackthorne readies his samurai and European crews. They will dock the Erasmus at a village called Yokohama, where it will be safe from typhoons.

Yabu asks Blackthorne to start over in their relationship: Blackthorne will lead the fight on sea and Yabu on land.

Alvito watches the ships and curses them. Mariko asks to give confession but doesn’t actually talk about her sins. Instead, she asks for Blackthorne’s life in exchange for information. Alvito agrees to take her request to the Father-Visitor. Mariko reveals several things to Alvito: her belief that Toranaga is carrying out a hoax, and the rumor that Lord Onoshi—another Regent—might be planning to poison Lord Kiyama. She ends by saying that Toranaga will lose without Alvito’s help and that she is not worthy to actually confess.

The night before, Mariko told Blackthorne he was in danger: Yabu still wants to kill him. Blackthorne feel alone. He cannot trust anyone.