Shogun is a historical novel set in early 17th-century Japan, telling the story of one western man who ends up there by accident. The man is pilot John Blackthorne, known in Japanese as Anjin-san (anjin apparently means pilot), and the accident taking him there is quite literal, as his ship is wrecked just off the Japanese coast.
We follow his struggle to survive Japanese politics, as he gets involved in the complex and complicated relationships between “traditional” Japanese, Portuguese traders, Jesuits, Japanese Christians etc. This was certainly a tumultuous time in Japan, ending with a reunification of Japan, as well as a turning-inwards which severely restricted contact with the outside world, leading to centuries of seclusion.
The book is based on real historical events: there was a real English pilot and a real Japanese lord who reunified Japan, even though the names were different. Apparently it is retold somewhat inaccurately, which I cannot judge. I would guess that some simplifications were necessary in the 1970s (such as referring to chess instead of go). And heck, it’s a novel, fiction, so I don’t mind if some of the details are off.
It’s a romanticised adventure story with fair amounts of action and lots of intrigue, plus a bit of romance – reminds me of The Three Musketeers. (I wonder if it will stay popular for as long as Dumas’s books.) And just like the Musketeers, Shogun has more intrigues than I can keep track of. I find political intrigues hard to relate to, and can never keep the relationships straight – who is betraying whom, and who else knows about it, and who is trying to convince whom to switch sides.
Much of Anjin-san’s attention is understandably focused on Japanese / samurai culture, with its well-known components: feudalism, honour, the importance of birth and ancestors and kin (where a whole family can be killed for the father’s misdeeds), and a closeness to death. In great contrast to European culture at that time, there is great focus on politeness, cleanliness and harmony; indeed Europeans are seen as barbarians. But there were also other differences that I wasn’t really aware of: more freedom for women, more “rational” marital relationships allowing divorce and remarrying, and “eta”, a kind of untouchables who work with dead flesh: as tanners, executioners, gravediggers etc.
And of course Anjin-san in turn sees the Japanese as barbarians, too. He starts out feeling superior, seeing the Japanese as incomprehensible barbarians with no respect for human life. Yet he gradually becomes more and more Japanese – acquires honor, learns to appreciate harmony and cleanliness, develops self-control, loses his fear of death. Still, to the end he remains appalled by how easily the samurai can decide to kill.
While most of the book is from Anjin-san’s point of view, we also get to be inside the heads of other characters. It is fascinating to see how an action can be seen as totally barbaric by one side, and yet make complete sense to the other.
Blackthorne’s character is very believable and easy to sympathise with. He must have felt more alien than anyone could feel today: nowadays everybody is more exposed to other cultures than anyone would have been back then. And he had effectively no way of contacting home or family: a letter sent by ship would have taken years to get to England and back.
It’s harder for me to judge the Japanese characters, but they are certainly well depicted and deep.
Shogun is an utterly fascinating read, a fabulous book with really no significant shortcomings. It was hard to put down, and every time I did I longed to pick it up again. Despite its 1100 pages I was sad when it ended. I am sure it will be equally enjoyable next time I read it: there is so much in this book that it can be re-read numerous times. I hope Clavell’s other books are as good.