Shōgun by James Clavell, Hodder & Stoughton, June 20th, 2013
(originally published in 1975)
The last review I did of a fictional work about the Japanese by someone who is not Japanese was my review of Rising Sun by Michael Crichton. It is a work that while very good, had become dated since its release. The then booming Japanese economy suffered significant decline around the time the book was published and hasn’t recovered since. So the background theme of Japan’s growing economic dominance lost the relevance it certainly had at the time. James Clavell’s Shōgun does not suffer this problem as it is historical fiction set within one of the most famous and important periods in Japanese history.
I had heard about this novel before but never sought to read it. It was the 2024 miniseries that put it back on my reading radar though I have not seen it as of writing. I was not even aware until shortly before I finished reading this that this is the second adaption of the novel with the first being in 1980, five years after its publication. The novel’s enduring popularity can be demonstrated simply by how long I had to wait for a library hold and the pace at which I had to read to get through it within a month. Though a lengthy work, it is certainly a page turner which meant this pace was never arduous and it was simply a matter of finding more time in the day to read it.
Shōgun is set in the 1600s during the Sengoku-jidai (戦国時代) which was a long period of war that ended with establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the countries closure to foreigners which lasted until the country was forced open by Commodore Perry over two centuries later. I have covered this period in a review of The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650 by C.R. Boxer which certainly made me more familiar with the historical context going in. But this prior knowledge isn’t necessary as Clavell does a fantastic job of explaining the historical context to the reader as the narrative progresses
Beginning with a Dutch vessel Erasmus piloted (but not captained) by Englishman John Blackthorne, the reader is shown just how distant the now popular tourist destination once was from Europeans. At the time, the Portuguese and Spanish were still the masters of the sea and both competing for new colonies. The English and Dutch meanwhile were upstarts which is made clear by how unwelcome Blackthorne and the few surviving Dutch crew are received by the Japanese when they wreck in Izu peninsula. The Japanese are unfamiliar with the features of these Europeans who have made the additional mistake of landing where not even Portuguese ships are welcome. Initially clothed, housed and fed though under guard; things quickly go wrong for them.
Amongst the Japanese there is one Jesuit priest who condemns Blackthorne and his crew as pirates which is accurate not just from historical record but by Blackthorne’s own private monologue of the Erasmus’ journey before it was wrecked. This included raiding a number of Spanish towns for plunder. burning churches and murdering many inhabitants along the way. Though he angrily rejects being described as such, he certainly is a pirate and this fact becomes very important for the narrative. This first encounter with the Jesuit priest also demonstrates Blackthorne’s mastery of language including Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Latin. This gift marks him as someone who can learn the even more foreign Japanese language and one of the best aspects of the novel is the realistic way he slowly acquires it throughout the novel. You get a great sense of the frustration felt by both Blackthorne and the Japanese he encounters and even a number of almost deadly misunderstandings.
Though a historical novel set within a real period, all the names of the characters are different from the real people they are modelled on. Tokugawa is Toranaga and even John Blackthorne is based on the Englishman William Adams who really did live (and die) among the Japanese. These name changes are important to allow flexibility for both the characters and events though they remain close enough to historical reality and certainly accurately show the cultural differences between Europeans and the Japanese.
Things turn bad for the crew who are imprisoned in filthy conditions by Yabu, the daimyo (feudal lord) of the province. This leads to one of the crew being tortured to death at the order of Yabu who takes sadistic delight in it while leaving Blackthorne and the surviving crew with horrible memories and a lasting hatred and fear of Yabu. Though Blackthorne comes very close to death here (and many times after), it is his knowledge and ability along with his personal bravery and tenaciousness that keeps him alive and improves his circumstances considerably over the course of the novel.
I have only covered the initial part of the narrative and I have left out a number of details including Catholic convert Toda Mariko who becomes Blackthorne’s love interest. Much of the novel focuses on the relationship that grows between them as she is tasked by her Lord Toranaga to translate for Blackthorne who soon becomes better known as Anjin-san (Mr. Pilot) as ‘Blackthorne’ is far too hard for the Japanese to pronounce. Throughout the novel, their is a steady growth in respect for Blackthorne’s knowledge and ability by Toranaga and many within the samurai class — including those who initially hated him. This respect is also reflected by Blackthorne who becomes much closer to the Japanese and their customs.
Perhaps the most praiseworthy aspect of the novel is how well it can adapt to someone’s prejudices. If you’re inclined to think the Japanese a bloodthirsty and intolerant race than your prejudices will be validated within the pages many times over. It is also true that if you admire them for their civility, manners and refinement then you will also find more than enough evidence of this within the pages as well. Just when it seems Clavell is becoming too romantic about the pleasures of the Japanese court, the reader is reminded of its darker side with some new treachery or brutal act of violence. If you distrust the motives of the Jesuit missionaries at the time, then your prejudices will be well-serviced; as they will also if you admire the heroic efforts the then new religious order made in beginning the conversion of Asia. Many Jesuits are shown to be genuinely pious though zealous but there are of course also bad eggs among them. Blackthorne as mentioned, is himself something of a contradiction being admirable but also by his own admission — a murderous pirate. In short, Clavell understands humanity and its contradictions but rarely lays a finger of judgement on any group which adds a lot to the realism.
Something unexpected was the amount of sexual content within the pages which I shouldn’t have been given it comes up in most novels I read about or set within Japan. I have previously discussed the sexual mores of the Japanese in regard to The Tale of Genji which was written hundreds of years before this novel is set. This is perhaps unavoidable as it certainly shocked the first arriving Europeans and even the otherwise unchaste Blackthorne is both shocked and angered when offered a boy in lieu of a woman at one point in the novel. It is unrealistic to pretend this was normal for all Japanese as Blackthorne spends most of the novel among the samurai class which were also a tiny percentage of the population. What went on among the peasant, merchant or among the despised Eta caste is largely left unsaid. As well as with religion, this aspect does show the mass of contradictions that characterise the Japanese soul and still does today.
The main problem I have with the novel apart from the occasional unnecessary level of description of sexual acts, is that the pace slows down significantly in the last third of the novel. The bittersweet climax comes hundreds of pages before the end and the great battle the novel seemed to be building up to never materialised. I do like the way the titular Shōgun reveals what hides behind his public face at the end but what happens to many of the characters is left up in the air. This is a minor issue though given how entertaining it remains throughout and I did not feel cheated by the ending.
So I would recommend the novel to anyone interested in Japan, the Japanese and their history. I do caution readers not to think of it as actual history as there are a number of significant differences even apart from the name changes and personal dramas. I would say that based on my own knowledge, it demonstrates a great understanding of the way the Japanese think and especially the ruthlessness that is often hidden so well behind their good manners.
Finally, given its publication after the Second World War, it is ironic to reflect on Blackthorne’s claims about the Portuguese intending to make subjects of the Japanese. Blackthorne first becomes useful to Toranaga when revealing his knowledge of Europe and the then violent rift caused by Protestantism. He claims the Portuguese (or Spanish) would make Japan a colony which I’m sure some would have desired though never coming close to actually doing so. It was ultimately Blackthorne’s race that first exercised military force against the Japanese which began with Perry and ended with the Japanese surrender at the end of World War 2. The same is true of the British as the Portuguese held Goa and the British ended up taking the whole thing. Such is the stuff of empires since the beginning of civilisation.