Shogun

Blackthorne wakes in a clean room after a woman addresses him in a language he doesn’t understand; there is food, and his clothes have been cleaned, but his knife and pistol are gone. Blackthorne goes out to a veranda and sees a village of two hundred houses, spread against the base of the mountain. The Erasmus is anchored in the harbor.

Everywhere Blackthorne goes, people bow to him. A Portuguese Jesuit in an orange robe, Father Sebastio, accuses Blackthorne of being a pirate, like all Dutchmen. Sebastio is surprised when Blackthorne says he is English.

Omi, a samurai who polices the village, tells Blackthorne that a few of his shipmates are still alive. He allows Blackthorne to roam the village but forbids him from leaving. When a man in the group suddenly stands without bowing, Omi immediately decapitates him with his sword.

When Blackthorne boards the Erasmus, there is a band of red silk on the cabin door. He goes to remove it, but a samurai stops him. This means Blackthorne can’t get below deck to get the enormously valuable pilot’s log called a rutter: “a small book containing the detailed observations of a pilot who had been there before. It noted the sounding and depths and color of the water and the nature of the seabed. It set down the how we got there and how we got back” (4).

Blackthorne speaks with his men, who have conflicting opinions about their situation: all are disturbed by the casual beheading, Vinck has been enjoying the women and food, but Jan Roper blames Blackthorne for their predicament, since it was Blackthorne who convinced their Captain-General to head for Japan. Vinck defends Blackthorne.

Blackthorne returns to the house and learns that Yabu, the daimyo, is coming. He is Omi’s uncle, a cruel man who exploits his subjects.

The head farmer Mura asks Blackthorne to bathe. When Blackthorne refuses—Europeans of the time believed bathing was harmful—Mura orders him to clean himself. Blackthorne tries to push Mura out of the house, and Mura neutralizes him with several martial arts nerve strikes. 

Father Sebastio interrogates Blackthorne on behalf of the cruel-looking Yabu as Mura and 50 samurai also look on. Blackthorne explains that England and the Netherlands are at war with Spain and Portugal. Blackthorne insults Sebastio and says he is only there to speak to Yabu. Sebastio refuses to believe the Erasmus is Dutch. Dutch or English ships have never made it to Japan. Blackthorne says they came through Magellan’s Pass, lying that 20 more ships now wait at Manila.

Yabu wishes he could crucify the priest and end Christianity. However, he must obey the Council of Regents. Yabu is about to sentence Blackthorne and his men to death when Blackthorne takes his crucifix from his belt, breaks it, and throws it on the ground. The Japanese are shocked—until this point, they did not know about different sects of Christianity and are surprised that the Protestant Blackthorne has such enmity for Catholics. Yabu forbids them from killing Blackthorne, and Mura suggests using the anti-Christian barbarians. Yabu agrees. To break the so-called pirates, Yabu imprisons them in a cellar typically used for drying fish.

Blackthorne suddenly flashes back to earlier that day: Mura and three women bathed him by force; when he became erect, Mura’s mother was delighted at the size of his penis and said it was the best day of her life.

Omi and Mura appear at the trapdoor of the cellar, empty barrels of rotting fish and excrement onto the men, and close the door. If they are not quiet, there will be more barrels. They must also select one of them to die at dusk, but it can’t be Blackthorne. 

Yabu bathes and thinks about the riches taken from the Dutch ship. There are many guns, which Yabu tells his men to take to his castle. Guns are usually dishonorable, against bushido, or samurai code, but still—it is more weaponry than Toranaga, a daimyo on the Council of Regents, has. Yabu believes that a unit of samurai supported by cannons would be unmatchable.

Toranaga wants to be shogun—a man who rules in the name of the Emperor. It is the highest martial rank in Japan: “Supreme Military Dictator” (61). The author provides a brief history of the line of shogun successors; no daimyo has become shogun in a century.

A blind man, Suwo, comes to give Yabu a massage. Suwo has a sword scar on his head. As he massages Yabu, he feels that Yabu’s liver is failing—Yabu will die within two years. Suwo tells Yabu about the day lord Yoshi Chikitada, Toranaga’s grandfather, was assassinated, beheaded with a sword made by the legendary swordsmith Muramasa. With Chikitada’s death, a superstition began that the Yoshi clan—of which Chikitada and Toranaga are a part—are vulnerable to Muramasa swords. Yabu wonders why Suwo is telling him this, but then remembers that he owns another Muramasa sword.

Suwo thinks about the famine that made him ronin, or a masterless samurai. He was blinded during an ambush, and taught massage by a blind monk. As Yabu falls asleep, Suwo contemplates snapping his neck, knowing it would be a favor to Omi and the village.

Blackthorne’s men draw straws to see who will die. It is Vinck. The trapdoor opens and Omi looks down at them. 

Blackthorne orders his men to fight when the ladder comes down. They manage to take a samurai hostage and the samurai pull the ladder back up. Villagers open the trapdoor and pour in more fish offal until it is six inches deep.

Omi meditates in the moonlight. There are screams in the background, which keep Omi’s mother awake. He worries about his wife Midori, whom he sent away before Yabu arrived; Omi has seen Yabu watching her. Omi’s mother hates Yabu. Her husband, Mizuno, will be daimyo once Yabu dies.

A courtesan, Kiku, is unnerved by the screams. As she massages Omi’s mother, the screams stop. Omi goes towards the ship and meets Mura on the way. They discuss the secret stash of weapons taken from the Erasmus. Mura tells Omi that the screaming man—one of Blackthorne’s men, who is being boiled alive in a cauldron—is not dead but has only fainted. 

The renewed screaming ends near sunrise. Kiku tries to sleep and think pleasant thoughts. She and a 15-year-old boy have just had sex with Yabu. When Yabu climaxed too quickly, the boy asked if he had done something wrong, but she told him no. Kiku leaves in the morning, feigning a limp so that people will gossip about Yabu’s sexual prowess.

Blackthorne distributes water to his men and watches the captive samurai, Masijiro, while above, they are boiling Pieterzoon, one of his men. Blackthorne offers the samurai water, but Masijiro slaps it away. Then Masijiro asks him to strangle him with his kimono sash. When Blackthorne refuses, Masijiro tries to drown himself in the latrine bucket. Blackthorne allows him to try, but Masijiro can’t finish. The priest opens the door and summons Blackthorne. 

Sebastio tells Blackthorne about Pieterzoon’s torture and death. The previous night was horrific for the priest. However, he feels closer to God now.

Omi orders Blackthorne to bathe, but his men must stay below. Blackthorne tries to go back down the ladder, but Omi says that they will burn another of his men if he does not obey. When Blackthorne refuses, the samurai put Croocq in the cauldron and Blackthorne relents. Omi makes Blackthorne lie down, says that Blackthorne must learn manners, and urinates on his back. Omi tells Blackthorne that his new name is Anjin, which means pilot.

Yabu approves of Omi’s actions and reasoning. He promotes Omi to the status of hatamoto, which will take effect when war comes. A ship arrives, flying the colors of Toranaga. 

The new ship brings Toda Hiro-matsu, the overlord of the fiefs Sagami and Kozuke. He is also an expert killer and one of Toranaga’s most trusted advisors. Hiro-matsu’s presence makes Yabu think he has been betrayed. Hiro-matsu tells Yabu that Toranaga is taking the Dutch ship and everything on it. This is unprecedented, given that Toranaga has no claim to this territory. Yabu decides to give the captured ship as a gift to save face, which Toranaga predicted.

Hiro-matsu invites Yabu to meet with Toranaga and tells Yabu that he is taking Blackthorne and his men as well. When Omi comes to get him, Blackthorne plays along but does not forget his desire for revenge.

Mura tells him to get on the galley ship, where Blackthorne meets Vaseo Rodrigues, the pilot of the galley. Rodrigues explains who Toranaga is and describes Japanese ships: They have samurai rowers, not slaves. Rodrigues notes how mean and skilled the samurai are: “They fear nothing, least of all death” (124). Samurais, an inherited status like the caste system, are legally allowed to kill any non-samurai.

On the Erasmus everything is gone. Rodrigues wants to know where Blackthorne hid the rutters, but Blackthorne says they were stolen.

Omi tells Sebastio to bring Blackthorne’s men after feeding and bathing them. Omi drops a knife to Masijiro so that he can die by ritual honor suicide, or seppuku. 

Rodrigues tells Blackthorne that the Japanese fear the deep water and again asks about the Portuguese rutter, but Blackthorne doesn’t know whose it was. Hiro-matsu and Yabu come on deck. Rodrigues explains typhoons; he and Blackthorne take alternating watches.

Blackthorne checks his sea chest; it has been broken into. He sees the packet Sebastio gave to him and wants to break the seals and see if it contains the rutters. Blackthorne is supposed to deliver the packet to Father Alvito. Alvito is a mediator on the council of Regents and knows more about the Japanese than any other European. He has the ears of Ishido and Toranaga.

A storm catches them when they are 10 miles from land. Blackthorne says they have to throw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. They make it to harbor, but Rodrigues is washed overboard and onto some rocks.

Blackthorne wants to find Rodrigues with a skiff. Hiro-matsu says no and wants to be back on land where he can control the sailors. Yabu recommends letting Blackthorne go with some men. Yabu will go with them. Blackthorne knows he may have a chance to avenge Pieterzoon. 

They go with Yabu and six samurai. Blackthorne is stunned by their impassiveness in the face of the cold and rain. He wonders if their nerves are dull, like animals. They find Rodrigues’s seemingly dead body caught between two rocks. Blackthorne realizes that, as the only European pilot in Japan, he would have power.

Yabu sends a man back for ropes. Yabu is reluctantly impressed with Blackthorne’s bravery and skill. He imagines a fleet of his samurai in control of the sea travel lanes. If Yabu can make Blackthorne his vassal, he could train them. Blackthorne challenges Yabu, who must descend the rock face to save face. He falls 20 feet and twists his ankle.

Yabu finds Rodrigues still alive. The tide is coming in, but Yabu can’t see how to climb back up. Blackthorne sees a ledge Yabu can use, but Yabu can’t hear him. A man yells and throws himself off the cliff to get Yabu’s attention. Yabu drags Rodrigues to the ledge. The man returns with ropes. Yabu and Rodrigues are safe. Blackthorne bows and thanks him, honoring his courage, but still hating Yabu.