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{{Infobox book {{Infobox book
| name = Shōgun | name = Shōgun
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| translator = | translator =
| image = Shogun.jpg | image = Shogun.jpg
| caption = First edition | caption = First edition cover (UK)
| author = ] | author = ]
| cover_artist = Ed Vebell (illustrated edition only) | cover_artist = Ed Vebell (illustrated edition only)
| country = United Kingdom, United States | country = United Kingdom, United States
| series = ] | series = The ]
| genre = ] | genre = ]
| publisher = ] (US)<br>] (UK) | publisher = ] (US)<br />] (UK)
| release_date = 1975 | release_date = 1975
| media_type = Print (hardback and paperback) | media_type = Print (hardback and paperback)
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| congress= PS3553.L365 S5 1975 | congress= PS3553.L365 S5 1975
| oclc= 9326267 | oclc= 9326267
| preceded_by = N/A | preceded_by =
| followed_by = '']'' | followed_by = ]
}} }}


'''''Shōgun''''' is a 1975 novel by ]. It is the first novel (by internal chronology) of the author's ]. A major best-seller, by 1990 the book had sold 15 million copies worldwide. '''''Shōgun''''' is a 1975 ] by author ] that chronicles the end of Japan’s ] (1568-1600) and the dawn of the ] (1603-1868). Loosely based on actual events and figures, ''Shōgun'' narrates how European interests and internal conflicts within Japan brought about the ].

By 1980 six million copies of ''Shōgun'' had been sold worldwide. The novel has been adapted into two TV series (in ] and ]), a stage production ('']''), a board game, and three video games. Though its historical setting is the earliest, it is the third of six published books in Clavell's broader '']'' series.


==Premise== ==Premise==
For nearly 30 years, Japan had been fractured by dynastic clashes and was without a ] (central ruler). Japan was also interfered with militarily and politically by ] ] in concert with the Roman ] and its ] stationed in Japan and elsewhere in North East Asia. Their prime interests in Japan were to control trade with Europe and to propagate ]. Portugal had profited well as Japan’s exclusive European trading partner for more than 50 years, but it was made uneasy when newly arrived ] ] threatened that exclusivity.<ref name=Gray>{{cite journal | jstor=41886417 | title=Shōgun | last1=Gray | first1=Wallace | last2=Kobayashi | first2=Yasuko | journal=Social Science | date=1979 | volume=54 | issue=3 | pages=170–171 }}</ref>
Beginning in feudal Japan some months before the critical ] in 1600, ''Shōgun'' gives an account of the rise of the '']'' "Toranaga" (based upon the actual ]). Toranaga's rise to the ] is seen through the eyes of the English sailor ], called ''Anjin'' ("Pilot") by the Japanese, whose fictional heroics are loosely based on the historical exploits of ]. The book is divided into six sections, preceded by a prologue in which Blackthorne is shipwrecked near ], then alternating between locations in Anjiro, Mishima, Osaka, Yedo, and Yokohama.


==Plot== ==Plot==
The clandestine mission of the ] ship ''Erasmus'' was to compete with Portugal for Japan and the rest of the lucrative far East Asian trade. After much of its crew, including its captain, dies, it ends up marooned in ] Harbor, the survivors thereby becoming the first Protestants to set foot in Japan.
John Blackthorne, an English pilot serving on the Dutch warship ''Erasmus'', is the first Englishman to reach Japan. England (and Holland) seek to disrupt Portuguese-Catholic relations with Japan and establish ties of their own through trade and military alliances.


The ship’s crew is held captive while armaments, records and coin are seized by Izu’s '']'' (lord) Yabu. Yabu had hoped to keep the ship a secret, but a spy reported the ship’s arrival to his liege Toranaga, Lord of the ] and President of the Council of Regents. Toranaga has the ship’s navigator Blackthorne brought to him in Osaka, knowing that the ''Erasmus'' could be a source of advantages against Lord Ishido, his chief rival in the Council.
After ''Erasmus'' is blown ashore on the Japanese, Blackthorne and ten other survivors are taken captive by local samurai, Kasigi Omi, until his '']'' and uncle, Kasigi Yabu, arrives. Yabu puts Blackthorne and his crew on trial as pirates, using a Jesuit priest to interpret for Blackthorne. Having lost the trial, Blackthorne attacks the Jesuit. His breaking of the priest's
crucifix shows that the priest is his enemy. The Japanese, who know only the Catholic version of Christianity, are shocked. Yabu sentences them all to death.


Toranaga's meeting with Blackthorne is faithfully translated by a Portuguese Jesuit, Father Alvito, despite revelations of war between Catholic Portugal and ] England. Until then Toranaga was unaware that ] was so divided.
Omi, a clever adviser, convinces Yabu to spare them to learn more about European ways. After a failed rebellion by the Europeans, Blackthorne agrees to submit to Japanese authority. He is placed in a household, while his crew remain hostages. On Omi's advice, Yabu plans confiscate the ], muskets, cannons, and silver coins recovered from ''Erasmus''. Word reaches Toranaga, Lord of the ] and president of the Council of Regents. Toranaga sends his commander in chief, General Toda "Iron Fist" Hiro-matsu, to take the spoils, and crew in order to gain an advantage against Toranaga's main rival on the council, Ishido.


To sequester Blackthorne from the other regents, he is imprisoned with a ] ] who teaches Blackthorne rudimentary Japanese and relates how the ]' '']'' (mercenaries) invaded Japan and launched violent agitations to profit the Portuguese crown. Before the two Catholic regents, urged on by the Jesuits, can have him executed, Blackthorne is abducted in transit and returned to Toranaga.
Blackthorne is now called ''Anjin'' (navigator or pilot). (The Japanese can't pronounce his name.) Hiro-matsu takes Blackthorne and Yabu back to Osaka. A meeting of the council is taking place at Ishido's castle stronghold. They travel by one of Toranaga's galleys, captained by the Portuguese pilot Rodrigues. Blackthorne and Rodrigues find themselves in a grudging friendship. Rodrigues tries to kill Blackthorne during a storm, but is himself swept overboard. Blackthorne not only saves Rodrigues but safely navigates the ship.


Lady Toda Mariko (a Jesuit-educated Catholic loyal to Toranaga, not her church) faithfully translates to Toranaga Blackthorne's account of the Pope granting Portugal ] in return for replacement of all non-Catholic lords, including Toranaga, with those loyal to Portugal and Rome. He also relates the Franciscan’s report of Catholic ''rōnin'' from ] invading Japan.
At Osaka, Blackthorne is interviewed by Toranaga, via senior Jesuit priest Martin Alvito, who realizes the threat that Blackthorne presents. A Protestant, Blackthorne tries to turn Toranaga against the Jesuits. Toranaga learns that the Christian faith is divided. Alvito is honor-bound to translate as Blackthorne tells Toranaga his story. The interview ends when Ishido enters, curious about the barbarian Blackthorne.


Toranaga is taken aback and refuses Portugal's trading ship request to leave Japan. In turn the regents, after once again failing to assassinate Blackthorne, try to force Toranaga to commit ]. Instead he resigns from the council and flees Osaka. Aided by Blackthorne’s clownish antics, he, Toranaga, Mariko and others of his court make it to Anjiro, which is safer. Toranaga elevates Blackthorne to the samurai rank of ] and gifts him a consort, Fujiko.
Toranaga has Blackthorne thrown into prison to keep him from Ishido. Blackthorne is befriended by a Franciscan friar, who reveals further details about the Jesuit conquests and the Portuguese ], which take the vast profits from the ] between China and Japan back to Europe. He is taught some basic Japanese and a little of their culture. Blackthorne is then taken from prison by Ishido's men. Toranaga intervenes and captures Blackthorne from his rival. Ishido ].


In Anjiro, Blackthorne threatens to commit ] after Yabu says he will burn down the village if the Englishman doesn't learn Japanese fast enough. He is narrowly stopped by Omi. Slowly, Blackthorne’s grasp of Japanese speech and customs improves. He trains a contingent of samurai in European-style warfare, and after a devastating earthquake, rescues Toranaga from underneath rubble. In turn Blackthorne raises his regard for Toranaga and for Mariko, a key member of Toranga’s inner circle, and with whom he secretly has an affair. A chance encounter with Blackthorne's old crew finds them revolted by his Japanese ways, and he by the coarseness of their European character.
At their next interview, Toranaga has the Lady Toda Mariko translate. She is a Catholic, torn between her new faith and her loyalty, as a samurai, to Toranaga. Toranaga learns from Blackthorne that Portugal has been granted the right to claim Japan as territory by the Pope, and of the exploitation of both South America and Asia in the name of spreading Catholicism.


To deflect suspicions, Toranaga feigns to all except Mariko acquiescence towards Ishido and professes no desire to do battle. When Toranaga's half-brother Zataki, who has allied with Ishido, arrives, Toranaga apparently surrenders and has Mariko re-enter Osaka with the intention to lay bare Ishido’s holding of noble households hostage. When, as planned, Mariko tries to exit Osaka, Ishido's men violently block her party until an intentionally unharmed Mariko gives up on leaving. Saying she has been dishonored, Mariko vows to kill herself the next day. She almost ends her life, but in a delaying gambit, Ishido grants her leave at the last minute. That night Toranaga's duplicitous ] Yabu lets Ishido's ]s into Toranaga's compound to kidnap Mariko. Having retreated to a storeroom, Mariko willfully stands in front of a door set to explode and is killed. Her death, which Ishido sought to prevent, forces him to free his noble hostages, thus weakening military alliances. As Blackthorne and Yabu leave, the Jesuits inform the former that the ''Erasmus'' has been sunk. As for Yabu, he confesses to Toranaga and obeys his lord's order to commit seppuku, giving his prized ] to Blackthorne. Mariko wills money to Blackthorne to build a seaworthy ship for Toranaga’s navy.
At Osaka Castle, Blackthorne is attacked by an assassin from the secretive ], a group of operatives who train all their lives to be the perfect weapon for one kill. Toranaga summons Yabu the next day for questioning, since Hiro-matsu says Yabu would be one who would know how to hire them. Yabu's evasive answers adds to Toranaga's distrust of him. The Jesuits may have hired the assassin to kill Blackthorne, to prevent him from revealing any more of what he knows.


At the book's end, Toranaga in ] says he sank the ''Erasmus'' to form alliances with the Catholic lords, who in return agreed not to kill Blackthorne. Blackthorne’s ], Toranaga says, is to never leave Japan, as Mariko's karma was to die for her lord, and as Toranaga's is to become shogun. The book’s epilogue takes place after the ] with Toranaga burying Ishido up to his neck until he dies three days later.
The Council of Regents' negotiations go badly and Toranaga is threatened with forced ]. To escape the verdict, and to paralyze the council (for procedural reasons), Toranaga resigns. He departs in the guise of his consort, leaving with a train of travelers. Blackthorne spots the exchange and, when Ishido shows up at the gate of the castle and nearly discovers Toranaga, Blackthorne saves him by creating a diversion. In this way, he gradually gains the trust of Toranaga and enters into his service. Toranaga's party reaches the coast but their ship is ] by Ishido's boats. At Blackthorne's suggestion, a Portuguese ship is asked to lend cannon to blast the boats clear. In return, the Jesuits will offer aid in exchange for Blackthorne. Toranaga agrees and the ship clears the coast. The Portuguese pilot, Rodrigues, repays his debt to Blackthorne by having him thrown overboard to swim back to Toranaga's ship. Toranaga's ship escapes by staying alongside the Portuguese ship as both pass through the gap left between the opposing boats. Toranaga and his party return to his ship, which then goes back to Anjiro.


⚫ ==Characters==
Blackthorne slowly builds up his Japanese-language skills and gains an understanding of the Japanese and their culture, eventually learning to respect it. The Japanese, in turn, are torn over Blackthorne's presence (as he is an outsider and a leader of a disgracefully filthy and uncouth rabble), but also a formidable sailor and navigator with extensive knowledge of the world. As such, he is both beneath contempt and incalculably valuable. A turning point is Blackthorne's attempt at seppuku. The Japanese prevent this attempt (as Blackthorne is worth more alive), but they also come to respect him for his knowledge and attempts to assimilate to their culture. When he also rescues Toranaga in an earthquake, he is granted the status of samurai and '']'' – a high-status vassal similar to a retainer, with the right of direct audience. As they spend more time together, Blackthorne comes to deeply admire both Toranaga and (specifically) Mariko, and they secretly become lovers.
''Shogun'' is a work of historical fiction based upon the power struggle between the successors of ] that led to the founding of the ]. Clavell based each character on a historical figure, but changed their names in order to add narrative deniability to the story.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Nedd |first=Alexis |date=2024-02-28 |title=The Real History Behind FX's 'Shōgun' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/shogun-real-history-fact-vs-fiction-1234958083/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref>


⚫ * John "Anjin" Blackthorne – ] (1564–1620)
Eventually, he visits the survivors of his original crew in ], and is astonished at how far he has ventured from the standard 'European' way of life (which he now sees to be filthy, vulgar, and ignorant), and he is actually disgusted by them. Blackthorne's plans to attack the 'Black Ship' are also complicated by his respect and friendship for his Portuguese colleague, Rodrigues, who is now to pilot the vessel. He returns to Osaka by sea with his crew and with 200 samurai (granted to him by Toranaga). Parallel with this plot, the novel also details the intense power struggle between the various war-lords, Toranaga and Ishido, and also&nbsp;– as a subtext&nbsp;– the political manoeuvring of the Protestant and Catholic powers in the Far East. There is also an internal conflict between Christian ''daimyōs'' (who are motivated in part by a desire to preserve and expand their (new) religion) and the ''daimyōs'' who oppose the Christians, as followers of foreign beliefs and representatives of the 'barbarian' cultural and fiscal influence on their society.
⚫ * Yoshi Toranaga – ] (1543–1616)

In the novel, Ishido is holding many family members of the other ''daimyōs'' as ] in Osaka, referring to them as "guests". As long as he has these hostages, the other ''daimyōs'', including Toranaga, do not dare attack him. Unforeseen by Toranaga, a replacement regent has also been chosen. Ishido hopes to lure or force Toranaga into the castle and, when all the regents are present, obtain from them an order for Toranaga to commit seppuku. To extricate Toranaga from this situation, Mariko goes to what will be her likely death at Osaka Castle&nbsp;– to face down Ishido and to obtain the hostages' release.

At the castle, Mariko defies Ishido and forces him to either dishonor himself (by admitting to holding the Samurai families as hostages) or to back down and let them leave. When Mariko tries to fulfill Toranaga's orders and to leave the castle, a battle ensues between Ishido's samurai and her escort, until she is forced to return. However, she states that she is disgraced and will commit suicide. As she is about to do so, Ishido gives her the papers to leave the castle on the next day. But that night, a group of ] that Ishido has hired, aided by Yabu, slips into Toranaga's section of the castle to kidnap Mariko. However, she and Blackthorne and the other ladies of Toranaga's "court", escape into a locked room. As the ninja prepare to blow the door open Mariko stands against the door and is killed by the explosion.

After her cremation, Ishido lets the hostages leave the castle, seriously reducing his control over them. Blackthorne then discovers that his ship has been burned, ruining his chances of attacking the Black Ship and gaining riches and also sailing home to England. However, Mariko has left him some money and Toranaga provides him with men to start building a new ship. Toranaga orders Yabu – who he learns had helped the attack in Osaka with the aim of being on the winning side – to commit seppuku for his treachery. Yabu complies, giving his prized '']'' to Blackthorne.

The last chapter involves Toranaga as he reveals his inner monologue: that he himself had ordered Blackthorne's ship to be burned, as a way to placate the Christian ''daimyōs'', and to save Blackthorne's life from them, as well as to bring them to his side against Ishido. He then encourages Blackthorne to build another ship. It is Blackthorne's ] to never leave Japan; and Mariko's karma to die for her lord, and for Toranaga to become eventually shogun, with absolute power. In a brief epilogue after the final Battle of Sekigahara, Ishido is captured alive and Toranaga has him buried up to his neck. The novel states that "Ishido lingered three days and died very old".

⚫ ==Characters==
Many of the novel's characters have real-life counterparts. {{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
⚫ *Yoshi Toranaga – ] (1543–1616)
*Yoshi Sudara – ] (1579–1632) *Yoshi Sudara – ] (1579–1632)
*Yoshi Naga – ] (1580–1607) *Yoshi Naga – ] (1580–1607)
*Ishido – ] (1561–1600) *Ishido Kazunari – ] (1559–1600)
*Ochiba – ] (1569–1615) *Ochiba – ] (1569–1615)
*Yaemon – ] (1593–1615) *Nakamura Yaemon – ] (1593–1615)
*Onoshi – ] (1558–1600) *Onoshi – ] (1558–1600)
*Harima – ] (1567–1612) *Harima – ] (1567–1612)
Line 80: Line 70:
*Sugiyama – ] (1539–1599) *Sugiyama – ] (1539–1599)
*Zataki – ] (1560–1624) *Zataki – ] (1560–1624)
⚫ *John Blackthorne – Miura Anjin/] (1564–1620)
*Toda Mariko – ] (1563–1600) *Toda Mariko – ] (1563–1600)
*Toda Hiro-matsu "Iron Fist" – ] (1534–1610) *Toda Hiro-matsu 'Iron Fist' – ] (1534–1610)
*Toda Buntaro – ] (1563–1646) *Toda Buntaro – ] (1563–1646)
*Toda Saruji – ] (1586–1641) *Toda Saruji – ] (1586–1641)
Line 88: Line 77:
*Kasigi Omi – ] (1566–1637) *Kasigi Omi – ] (1566–1637)
*Goroda – ] (1534–1582) *Goroda – ] (1534–1582)
*Nakamura – ] (1536–1598) *Taiko Nakamura – ] (1536–1598)
*Akechi Jinsai – ] (1528–1582) *Akechi Jinsai – ] (1528–1582)
*Lady Genjiko – ] (1573–1626) *Lady Genjiko – ] (1573–1626)
*Martin Alvito – ] (1561/1562–1633/1634) *Father Martin Alvito – ] (1561/1562–1633/1634)
*Johann Vinck – ] (1556?–1623) *Johann Vinck – ] (1556?–1623)
*Spillbergen – ] (?–1606) *Spillbergen – ] (?–1606)
*Father Dell'Aqua – ] (1539–1606) *Father-Visitor Carlo dell'Aqua – ] (1539–1606)
*Brother Michael – ] (1569?–1633) *Brother Michael – ] (1569?–1633)
*Captain-General Ferriera – Horatio Neretti, captain of the ] in 1600 *Captain-General Ferriera – Horatio Neretti, captain of the ] in 1600


==Historical accuracy==
⚫ ==Background==
Blackthorne's interactions with Toranaga are closely based upon accounts in the diaries of ] (1564–1620).<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |date=2024-02-27 |title=Why This Historian Is Looking Forward to the New 'Shogun' |url=https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> However, while Adams served in Tokugawa's army at Sekigahara, he did not become a retainer or a samurai until after the battle.
⚫ Clavell stated that reading a sentence in his daughter's textbook that stated that "in 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai" inspired the novel.<ref name="beamon19800915">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_llQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6517%2C3773980 |title=Shogun: $20-Million Samurai Saga Sprang from a Single Textbook Line |newspaper=] |date=15 September 1980 |access-date=21 September 2012 |last=Beamon |first=William |page=1B}}</ref> ''Shogun'' was therefore based on an actual series of events involving Adams, who reached Japan in 1600 and became involved with the future shogun Tokugawa. He achieved high status managing commercial activities for Tokugawa's shogunate, though much of the interaction between the various characters in the novel was invented. The first draft was 2,300 pages and Clavell cut it down to 1,700 with the help of his editor, German Gollob.<ref>{{cite news|title=Book Business: Paperback Magruder Sawed-Off Shogun Engulfed|author=JOYCE ILLIG|date=February 9, 1975|work=The Washington Post|page=200}}</ref>


Adams never met Hosokawa Gracia, in contrast to Blackthorne's intimate relationship with Toda Mariko.<ref name=":0" />
==Themes==
The main theme of the novel is the precarious peace of Japan in 1600, a nation consumed by endless civil war and political machinations. The heir to the Taiko, the deceased supreme leader of Japan, is too young to rule, and five ''daimyōs'' specifically chosen by the late Taiko for their inability to work together hold power as a Council of Regents until the boy comes of age. The novel details the intense power struggle between the two most powerful ''daimyōs,'' Toranaga and Ishido, as they both seek to usurp power from the Taiko's heir. As a subtext, there is also the political manoeuvring of the Protestant and Catholic powers in the Far East. This translates an internal conflict in Japan between Christian ''daimyōs'' (who are motivated in part by a desire to preserve and expand their religion) and the ''daimyōs'' who oppose the Japanese Christians as followers of foreign beliefs and potential traitors whose loyalty is questionable.


The novel contains numerous ] errors, as well as mistakenly depicting ]s as having ]es and 17th-century samurai as using ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bakkalian |first=Nyri |date=2021-12-17 |title=Is James Clavell's Shogun Accurate History - Or Pure Fiction? |url=https://unseen-japan.com/james-clavell-shogun-bunk/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Unseen Japan |language=en-US}}</ref> ], used extensively by Toranaga, were unknown in Japan at the time.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1981-09-13 |title=MAKING OF A LITERARY SHOGUN |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/13/magazine/making-of-a-literary-shogun.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Portugal, which holds the sole right to trade with Japan, and the Catholic Church, mainly through the Order of the ]s, have gained a religious, economic, and political foothold and seek to extend their power in Japan (as they have done in nearby places such as ], ], and the ]). Guns and other modern military capabilities brought to Japan by the Portuguese, and indirectly by Blackthorne, are still a novelty and coveted by powerful lords looking to gain an advantage over their rivals, but are despised by many ] as a threat to their traditional methods of fighting. In contrast, however, the silk trade is viewed as essential, and the Portuguese traders regularly amass huge profits via their annual "Black Ship" fleets from Macao.


⚫ ==Background==
Japanese society is shown to be very insular and xenophobic, with foreigners referred to as "barbarians" and shunned for their arrogance, eating habits, lack of fluency in the Japanese language, and inability to respect Japanese social customs. As a result, there are many internal conflicts between the "Eastern" and "Western" cultures – especially to do with duty, honor, sexuality, cleanliness, diet, obligations, hierarchies, loyalties, and – more particularly – the essence of 'self'. Blackthorne is also torn between his growing affection for Mariko (who is married to a powerful, abusive, and dangerous samurai, Buntaro), his increasing loyalty to Toranaga, his household and consort, a "]" courtesan named Kiku, and his desire to return to the open seas aboard ''Erasmus'' so he can intercept the Black Ship fleet before it reaches Japan.
Clavell was an officer in the ] during ] and was a prisoner of war at ] in ] from 1942 to 1945, an experience that formed the basis of his first novel '']''. Despite this experience, he admired Japan and the Japanese people, and described ''Shogun'' as "passionately pro-Japanese."<ref name=":1" />


⚫ Clavell stated that reading a sentence in his daughter's textbook that stated that "in 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai" inspired the novel.<ref name="beamon19800915">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_llQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6517%2C3773980 |title=Shogun: $20-Million Samurai Saga Sprang from a Single Textbook Line |newspaper=] |date=15 September 1980 |access-date=21 September 2012 |last=Beamon |first=William |page=1B |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117062408/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_llQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6517%2C3773980 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Shogun'' was therefore based on an actual series of events involving William Adams, who reached Japan in 1600 and became involved with the future shogun Tokugawa. He achieved high status managing commercial activities for Tokugawa's shogunate, though much of the interaction between the various characters in the novel was invented. The first draft was 2,300 pages and Clavell cut it down to 1,700 with the help of his editor, German Gollob.<ref>{{cite news|title=Book Business: Paperback Magruder Sawed-Off Shogun Engulfed|author=JOYCE ILLIG|date=February 9, 1975|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=200}}</ref> However, ''Shogun'' was edited lightly in comparison to Clavell's earlier novels.<ref name=":2" />
A recurring motif in the book is Toranaga engaging in ]. He compares his various birds to his vassals and mulls over his handling of them, flinging them at targets, giving them morsels, and bringing them back to his fist for re-hooding. There are other recurring themes of Eastern values, as opposed to Western values, masculine (patriarchal) values as opposed to human values, etc. Another is the granting of honours and favours to those who display loyalty - including the trading of secrets by a '']'' called Gyoko, which allows Toranaga to gain an upperhand in his power play for the shogunate.


==Reception== ==Reception==
⚫ '']''{{'}}s Webster Schott wrote, "I can't remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one It's almost impossible not to continue to read ''Shōgun'' once having opened it".<ref name="schott19750622">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/shogun-from-james-clavell-with-tea-and-blood.html |title=Shogun |last=Schott |first=Webster |date=June 22, 1975 |work=] |access-date=2018-03-15 |page=236 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=16 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316084834/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/shogun-from-james-clavell-with-tea-and-blood.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to becoming a best-seller, with more than six million copies of the novel in 14 hardcover and 38 paperback printings by 1980, ''Shōgun'' had great impact on westerners' knowledge of, and interest in, Japanese history and culture. Henry Smith, editor of ''Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy'' (1980), estimated that 20 to 50% of all students in American college-level courses about Japan had read the novel. He described the book as "a virtual encyclopedia of Japanese history and culture; somewhere among those half-million words, one can find a brief description of virtually everything one wanted to know about Japan", and stated that "In sheer quantity, ''Shōgun'' has probably conveyed more information about Japan to more people than all the combined writings of scholars, journalists, and novelists since the ]".<ref name="smith1980">{{cite book |title=Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/ |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara / The Japan Society |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Henry D. II |year=1980 |pages=xi–xii, 18, 151 |access-date=2 February 2007 |archive-date=23 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123104634/http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Criticizing inaccuracies in the author's depiction of Japan, Smith wrote in '']'' that "Clavell is in effect delivering a sermon on the errant ways of the West", contrasting Blackthorne and other Christian Westerners' barbaric ways to the superior "meditative and fatalistic posture of the Japanese samurai".<ref name="smith19811010">{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Henry |date=1981-10-10 |title=A Historian Reads James Clavell's Shōgun |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historian-reads-james-clavells-shogun |journal=History Today |volume=31 |issue=10}}</ref> The author of ''James Clavell: A Critical Companion'' called the novel "one of the most effective depictions of cross-cultural encounters ever written", and "Clavell's finest effort".<ref name="macdonald1996">{{cite book |title=James Clavell: A Critical Companion |publisher=] |last=Macdonald |first=Gina |location=Santa Barbara, California |year=1996 |pages= |isbn=0-313-29494-1}}</ref>
"I can't remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one", '']''{{'}}s Webster Schott wrote. He added, "It's almost impossible not to continue to read ''Shōgun'' once having opened it".<ref name="schott19750622">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/shogun-from-james-clavell-with-tea-and-blood.html |title=Shogun |last=Schott |first=Webster |date=1975-06-22 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-03-15 |page=236 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


⚫ Clavell said that ''Shōgun'' "is ] and ] It made me. I became a brand name, like ]."<ref>{{cite news|title=Clavell bullies the bullies now that he's No. 1|first=John|last=Allemang|work=]|date=29 November 1986|page=E.3}}</ref> He reported that the ruler of a Middle Eastern ] offered him a full ] for a novel that would do for his country what ''Shōgun'' did for Japan.<ref name="bernstein19810913">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/13/magazine/making-of-a-literary-shogun.html |title=Making of a Literary Shogun |last=Bernstein |first=Paul |date=1981-09-13 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-03-15 |language=en |archive-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212235031/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/13/magazine/making-of-a-literary-shogun.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
⚫ In addition to becoming a best-seller, with more than six million copies of the novel in 14 hardcover and 38 paperback printings by 1980, ''Shōgun'' had great impact on westerners' knowledge of, and interest in, Japanese history and culture. The editor of ''Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy'' (1980) estimated that 20 to 50% of all students in American college-level courses about Japan had read the novel. He described the book as "a virtual encyclopedia of Japanese history and culture; somewhere among those half-million words, one can find a brief description of virtually everything one wanted to know about Japan", and stated that "In sheer quantity, ''Shōgun'' has probably conveyed more information about Japan to more people than all the combined writings of scholars, journalists, and novelists since the ]".<ref name="smith1980">{{cite book |title=Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/ |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara / The Japan Society |editor-last=Smith II |editor-first=Henry D. |year=1980 |pages=xi–xii, 18, 151 }}</ref> The author of ''James Clavell: A Critical Companion'' calls the novel "one of the most effective depictions of cross-cultural encounters ever written", and "Clavell's finest effort".<ref name="macdonald1996">{{cite book |title=James Clavell: A Critical Companion |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |last=Macdonald |first=Gina |year=1996 |pages= |isbn=0313294941}}</ref>

⚫ Clavell said that ''Shōgun'' "is B.C. and A.D. It made me. I became a brand name, like ]".<ref>{{cite news|title=Clavell bullies the bullies now that he's No. 1|author=Allemang, John|work=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|date=29 November 1986|page=E.3}}</ref> He reported that the ruler of a Middle Eastern ] offered him a full ] for a novel that would do for his country what ''Shōgun'' did for Japan.<ref name="bernstein19810913">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/13/magazine/making-of-a-literary-shogun.html |title=Making of a Literary Shogun |last=Bernstein |first=Paul |date=1981-09-13 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2018-03-15 |language=en}}</ref>


==Adaptations== ==Adaptations==
===Television=== ===Television===
In 1976 Clavell employed ] to write a screenplay.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mazursky: Next Stop New York|author=Kilday, Gregg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=13 September 1976|page=d11}} In 1976 Clavell employed ] to write a screenplay.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mazursky: Next Stop New York|author=Kilday, Gregg|work=Los Angeles Times|date=13 September 1976|page=d11}}
</ref> The novel was adapted as a nine-hour ] in 1980. It starred ], ], ], and ]. This was edited into a two-hour theatrical release. A 5-disc DVD release appeared in 2003 and a 3-disc Blu-ray release in 2014. </ref> In 1978, he selected ] to write a ] for NBC. Clavell and Bercovici decided to simplify the story for an American television audience by omitting one of the two major plot lines of the novel, the struggle between Toranaga and the other warlords, and focusing on the adventures of Blackthorne and his romance with Mariko. Due to the focus on Blackthorne's perspective, most of the Japanese dialogue was not subtitled or dubbed.<ref name=":1" /> This nine-hour ] aired in 1980, starring ], ], ], and ]. This was edited into a two-hour theatrical release. A 5-disc DVD release appeared in 2003 and a 3-disc Blu-ray release in 2014.

⚫ On August 3, 2018, it was announced that ] would be adapting the ].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Otterson |first1=Joe |title=FX Orders Alex Garland Drama 'Devs,' Limited Series 'Shogun' |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/fx-alex-garland-devs-limited-series-shogun-1202894554/ |website=Variety |access-date=August 3, 2018 |date=August 3, 2018 |archive-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819134427/https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/fx-alex-garland-devs-limited-series-shogun-1202894554/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The 2024 series stars ], who also served as co-producer, ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=September 30, 2021|title='Shōgun': Anna Sawai Joins Hiroyuki Sanada & Cosmo Jarvis In FX Limited Series; Full Cast Set|url=https://deadline.com/2021/09/shogun-anna-sawai-hiroyuki-sanada-cosmo-jarvis-fx-limited-series-1234847448/|url-status=live|access-date=October 1, 2021|website=]|language=en-US|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001024602/https://deadline.com/2021/09/shogun-anna-sawai-hiroyuki-sanada-cosmo-jarvis-fx-limited-series-1234847448/}}</ref>
The trailer was released in late 2023 and the first two episodes premiered on February 27, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shōgun - Official Trailer |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAN5uspO_hk |website=Youtube | date=2 November 2023 |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> In contrast to the 1980 miniseries, this closely follows both plot lines of the novel and translates the dialogue between the Japanese characters, although several characters' names are changed, for instance, Yabu was changed to Yabushige.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2024-02-27 |title=How FX's 'Shōgun' Compares to James Clavell's 1975 Novel |url=https://time.com/6752742/shogun-miniseries-book-differences/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Moreover, certain changes were made, including which characters died, as in the show, Nagakado and Hiromatsu (Naga and Hiro-matsu in the books) both died when their book counterparts survived. The series was met with acclaim, with special praise towards Sanada, Jarvis, Sawai, and Asano's performances. In May 2024, a second and third season were officially announced to be in development.


This marks the first work to be adapted into two television series resulted to win two Primetime Emmys for two divisions: ] in 1981 and ] in 2024.
⚫ On August 3, 2018, it was announced that ] would be adapting the novel into a miniseries.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Otterson |first1=Joe |title=FX Orders Alex Garland Drama ‘Devs,’ Limited Series ‘Shogun’ |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/fx-alex-garland-devs-limited-series-shogun-1202894554/ |website=Variety |access-date=August 3, 2018 |date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> ], ], and ] are set to star in the miniseries.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|last2=|first2=|date=2021-09-30|title=‘Shōgun’: Anna Sawai Joins Hiroyuki Sanada & Cosmo Jarvis In FX Limited Series; Full Cast Set|url=https://deadline.com/2021/09/shogun-anna-sawai-hiroyuki-sanada-cosmo-jarvis-fx-limited-series-1234847448/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>


===Theatrical=== ===Stage musical===
A stage musical adaptation, '']'', was produced in 1990.
A ] musical followed the television production.


===Games=== ===Games===
There have been three computer games based on the Shōgun novel. Two ] games with sparse graphics were produced for the ] and PC, marketed as '']'' by ] and ''Shōgun'' by ]. A unique graphical adventure game, ''Shōgun'', was also produced for systems including the ], ] and ] by Lee & Mathias and released by ] in 1986. There have been three video games based on the novel. Two ] games with sparse graphics were produced for the ] and PC, marketed as '']'' by ] and ''Shōgun'' by ]. A unique graphical adventure game, ''Shōgun'', was also produced for systems including the ], ] and ] by Lee & Mathias and released by ] in 1986.{{cn|date=May 2024}}


The tabletop game publisher FASA published ''James Clavell's Shogun'' in 1983. This was the third of four boardgame titles based on Clavell novels. The tabletop game publisher ] published ''James Clavell's Shogun'' in 1983. This was the third of four boardgame titles based on Clavell novels.{{cn|date=May 2024}}


A developer of '']'', one of the ]s (role playing game) that are considered to have pioneered the gaming genre, admitted that the most powerful weapon in the game called Muramasa Blade was originally spelled as Murasama, as a result of exactly referencing to the sword appeared in the novel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wizardryは，連綿とつながる文化の鎖の1ピース――生みの親，狂王ことRobert Woodhead氏に聞く，その源流と80年代アニメの話 |url=https://www.4gamer.net/games/044/G004471/20160407001/ |website=4Gamer.net |access-date=September 2, 2024 |date=April 9, 2016 }}</ref>
==Other fiction depicting the life of Will Adams==
{{See also|William Adams (sailor, born 1564)#Representation in other media}}

Clavell was not the first author to novelise the story of Will Adams; several earlier and less successful attempts exist. The first, by ], was called ''Will Adams, The First Englishman in Japan: A Romantic Biography'' (London, 1861). Dalton had never been to Japan and his book reflects romanticised Victorian British notions of the exotic Asian. Richard Blaker's ''The Needlewatcher'' (London, 1932) is the least romantic of the novels; Blaker attempted to de-mythologize Adams and to write a careful historical work of fiction. ]'s ''Pilot and Shōgun'' is less a novel than a series of incidents in Adams' life. American ] wrote ''Daishi-san'' (New York, 1960) also tackles the subject. In ]'s ''Lord of the Golden Fan'', published just two years before ''Shōgun'', in 1973, Adams is portrayed as sexually frustrated by the morals of his time and seeks freedom in the East, where he has numerous encounters. The work is considered light pornography.{{r|smith1980|page1=7–13}}


==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
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1975 novel by James Clavell

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Shōgun
First edition cover (UK)
AuthorJames Clavell
Cover artistEd Vebell (illustrated edition only)
SeriesThe Asian Saga
GenreHistorical fiction
PublisherDelacorte Press (US)
Hodder & Stoughton (UK)
Publication date1975
Publication placeUnited Kingdom, United States
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages1152 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN0-440-08721-X (US) – ISBN 0-340-20316-1 (UK)
OCLC9326267
Dewey Decimal823/.914 19
LC ClassPS3553.L365 S5 1975
Followed byTai-Pan 

Shōgun is a 1975 historical novel by author James Clavell that chronicles the end of Japan’s Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600) and the dawn of the Edo period (1603-1868). Loosely based on actual events and figures, Shōgun narrates how European interests and internal conflicts within Japan brought about the Shogunate restoration.

By 1980 six million copies of Shōgun had been sold worldwide. The novel has been adapted into two TV series (in 1980 and 2024), a stage production (Shōgun: The Musical), a board game, and three video games. Though its historical setting is the earliest, it is the third of six published books in Clavell's broader Asian Saga series.

Premise

For nearly 30 years, Japan had been fractured by dynastic clashes and was without a Shogun (central ruler). Japan was also interfered with militarily and politically by Catholic Portugal in concert with the Roman Papacy and its Jesuits stationed in Japan and elsewhere in North East Asia. Their prime interests in Japan were to control trade with Europe and to propagate Roman Catholicism. Portugal had profited well as Japan’s exclusive European trading partner for more than 50 years, but it was made uneasy when newly arrived Protestant Dutch threatened that exclusivity.

Plot

The clandestine mission of the Dutch ship Erasmus was to compete with Portugal for Japan and the rest of the lucrative far East Asian trade. After much of its crew, including its captain, dies, it ends up marooned in Izu Harbor, the survivors thereby becoming the first Protestants to set foot in Japan.

The ship’s crew is held captive while armaments, records and coin are seized by Izu’s daimyō (lord) Yabu. Yabu had hoped to keep the ship a secret, but a spy reported the ship’s arrival to his liege Toranaga, Lord of the Kantō and President of the Council of Regents. Toranaga has the ship’s navigator Blackthorne brought to him in Osaka, knowing that the Erasmus could be a source of advantages against Lord Ishido, his chief rival in the Council.

Toranaga's meeting with Blackthorne is faithfully translated by a Portuguese Jesuit, Father Alvito, despite revelations of war between Catholic Portugal and Elizabethan England. Until then Toranaga was unaware that Christendom was so divided.

To sequester Blackthorne from the other regents, he is imprisoned with a Franciscan friar who teaches Blackthorne rudimentary Japanese and relates how the Jesuits' rōnin (mercenaries) invaded Japan and launched violent agitations to profit the Portuguese crown. Before the two Catholic regents, urged on by the Jesuits, can have him executed, Blackthorne is abducted in transit and returned to Toranaga.

Lady Toda Mariko (a Jesuit-educated Catholic loyal to Toranaga, not her church) faithfully translates to Toranaga Blackthorne's account of the Pope granting Portugal colonial rights to Japan and East Asia in return for replacement of all non-Catholic lords, including Toranaga, with those loyal to Portugal and Rome. He also relates the Franciscan’s report of Catholic rōnin from Macau invading Japan.

Toranaga is taken aback and refuses Portugal's trading ship request to leave Japan. In turn the regents, after once again failing to assassinate Blackthorne, try to force Toranaga to commit seppuku. Instead he resigns from the council and flees Osaka. Aided by Blackthorne’s clownish antics, he, Toranaga, Mariko and others of his court make it to Anjiro, which is safer. Toranaga elevates Blackthorne to the samurai rank of hatamoto and gifts him a consort, Fujiko.

In Anjiro, Blackthorne threatens to commit seppuku after Yabu says he will burn down the village if the Englishman doesn't learn Japanese fast enough. He is narrowly stopped by Omi. Slowly, Blackthorne’s grasp of Japanese speech and customs improves. He trains a contingent of samurai in European-style warfare, and after a devastating earthquake, rescues Toranaga from underneath rubble. In turn Blackthorne raises his regard for Toranaga and for Mariko, a key member of Toranga’s inner circle, and with whom he secretly has an affair. A chance encounter with Blackthorne's old crew finds them revolted by his Japanese ways, and he by the coarseness of their European character.

To deflect suspicions, Toranaga feigns to all except Mariko acquiescence towards Ishido and professes no desire to do battle. When Toranaga's half-brother Zataki, who has allied with Ishido, arrives, Toranaga apparently surrenders and has Mariko re-enter Osaka with the intention to lay bare Ishido’s holding of noble households hostage. When, as planned, Mariko tries to exit Osaka, Ishido's men violently block her party until an intentionally unharmed Mariko gives up on leaving. Saying she has been dishonored, Mariko vows to kill herself the next day. She almost ends her life, but in a delaying gambit, Ishido grants her leave at the last minute. That night Toranaga's duplicitous vassal Yabu lets Ishido's ninjas into Toranaga's compound to kidnap Mariko. Having retreated to a storeroom, Mariko willfully stands in front of a door set to explode and is killed. Her death, which Ishido sought to prevent, forces him to free his noble hostages, thus weakening military alliances. As Blackthorne and Yabu leave, the Jesuits inform the former that the Erasmus has been sunk. As for Yabu, he confesses to Toranaga and obeys his lord's order to commit seppuku, giving his prized katana to Blackthorne. Mariko wills money to Blackthorne to build a seaworthy ship for Toranaga’s navy.

At the book's end, Toranaga in soliloquy says he sank the Erasmus to form alliances with the Catholic lords, who in return agreed not to kill Blackthorne. Blackthorne’s karma, Toranaga says, is to never leave Japan, as Mariko's karma was to die for her lord, and as Toranaga's is to become shogun. The book’s epilogue takes place after the Battle of Sekigahara with Toranaga burying Ishido up to his neck until he dies three days later.

Characters

Shogun is a work of historical fiction based upon the power struggle between the successors of Toyotomi Hideyoshi that led to the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate. Clavell based each character on a historical figure, but changed their names in order to add narrative deniability to the story.

Historical accuracy

Blackthorne's interactions with Toranaga are closely based upon accounts in the diaries of William Adams (1564–1620). However, while Adams served in Tokugawa's army at Sekigahara, he did not become a retainer or a samurai until after the battle.

Adams never met Hosokawa Gracia, in contrast to Blackthorne's intimate relationship with Toda Mariko.

The novel contains numerous Japanese language errors, as well as mistakenly depicting Japanese castles as having portcullises and 17th-century samurai as using socket bayonets. Carrier pigeons, used extensively by Toranaga, were unknown in Japan at the time.

Background

Clavell was an officer in the Royal Artillery during World War II and was a prisoner of war at Changi Prison in Singapore from 1942 to 1945, an experience that formed the basis of his first novel King Rat. Despite this experience, he admired Japan and the Japanese people, and described Shogun as "passionately pro-Japanese."

Clavell stated that reading a sentence in his daughter's textbook that stated that "in 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai" inspired the novel. Shogun was therefore based on an actual series of events involving William Adams, who reached Japan in 1600 and became involved with the future shogun Tokugawa. He achieved high status managing commercial activities for Tokugawa's shogunate, though much of the interaction between the various characters in the novel was invented. The first draft was 2,300 pages and Clavell cut it down to 1,700 with the help of his editor, German Gollob. However, Shogun was edited lightly in comparison to Clavell's earlier novels.

Reception

The New York Times's Webster Schott wrote, "I can't remember when a novel has seized my mind like this one It's almost impossible not to continue to read Shōgun once having opened it". In addition to becoming a best-seller, with more than six million copies of the novel in 14 hardcover and 38 paperback printings by 1980, Shōgun had great impact on westerners' knowledge of, and interest in, Japanese history and culture. Henry Smith, editor of Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy (1980), estimated that 20 to 50% of all students in American college-level courses about Japan had read the novel. He described the book as "a virtual encyclopedia of Japanese history and culture; somewhere among those half-million words, one can find a brief description of virtually everything one wanted to know about Japan", and stated that "In sheer quantity, Shōgun has probably conveyed more information about Japan to more people than all the combined writings of scholars, journalists, and novelists since the Pacific War". Criticizing inaccuracies in the author's depiction of Japan, Smith wrote in History Today that "Clavell is in effect delivering a sermon on the errant ways of the West", contrasting Blackthorne and other Christian Westerners' barbaric ways to the superior "meditative and fatalistic posture of the Japanese samurai". The author of James Clavell: A Critical Companion called the novel "one of the most effective depictions of cross-cultural encounters ever written", and "Clavell's finest effort".

Clavell said that Shōgun "is B.C. and A.D. It made me. I became a brand name, like Heinz Baked Beans." He reported that the ruler of a Middle Eastern petrostate offered him a full oil tanker for a novel that would do for his country what Shōgun did for Japan.

Adaptations

Television

In 1976 Clavell employed Robert Bolt to write a screenplay. In 1978, he selected Eric Bercovici to write a miniseries for NBC. Clavell and Bercovici decided to simplify the story for an American television audience by omitting one of the two major plot lines of the novel, the struggle between Toranaga and the other warlords, and focusing on the adventures of Blackthorne and his romance with Mariko. Due to the focus on Blackthorne's perspective, most of the Japanese dialogue was not subtitled or dubbed. This nine-hour television miniseries aired in 1980, starring Richard Chamberlain, Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Shimada, and John Rhys-Davies. This was edited into a two-hour theatrical release. A 5-disc DVD release appeared in 2003 and a 3-disc Blu-ray release in 2014.

On August 3, 2018, it was announced that FX would be adapting the novel into a TV series. The 2024 series stars Hiroyuki Sanada, who also served as co-producer, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Takehiro Hira, Tommy Bastow and Fumi Nikaido. The trailer was released in late 2023 and the first two episodes premiered on February 27, 2024. In contrast to the 1980 miniseries, this closely follows both plot lines of the novel and translates the dialogue between the Japanese characters, although several characters' names are changed, for instance, Yabu was changed to Yabushige. Moreover, certain changes were made, including which characters died, as in the show, Nagakado and Hiromatsu (Naga and Hiro-matsu in the books) both died when their book counterparts survived. The series was met with acclaim, with special praise towards Sanada, Jarvis, Sawai, and Asano's performances. In May 2024, a second and third season were officially announced to be in development.

This marks the first work to be adapted into two television series resulted to win two Primetime Emmys for two divisions: Outstanding Limited Series in 1981 and Outstanding Drama Series in 2024.

Stage musical

A stage musical adaptation, Shōgun: The Musical, was produced in 1990.

Games

There have been three video games based on the novel. Two text-based adventure games with sparse graphics were produced for the Amiga and PC, marketed as James Clavell's Shōgun by Infocom and Shōgun by Mastertronic. A unique graphical adventure game, Shōgun, was also produced for systems including the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and IBM PC by Lee & Mathias and released by Virgin Entertainment in 1986.

The tabletop game publisher FASA published James Clavell's Shogun in 1983. This was the third of four boardgame titles based on Clavell novels.

A developer of Wizardry, one of the RPGs (role playing game) that are considered to have pioneered the gaming genre, admitted that the most powerful weapon in the game called Muramasa Blade was originally spelled as Murasama, as a result of exactly referencing to the sword appeared in the novel.

References

  1. Gray, Wallace; Kobayashi, Yasuko (1979). "Shōgun". Social Science. 54 (3): 170–171. JSTOR 41886417.
  2. ^ Nedd, Alexis (28 February 2024). "The Real History Behind FX's 'Shōgun'". IndieWire. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Why This Historian Is Looking Forward to the New 'Shogun'". TIME. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  4. Bakkalian, Nyri (17 December 2021). "Is James Clavell's Shogun Accurate History - Or Pure Fiction?". Unseen Japan. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  5. ^ "MAKING OF A LITERARY SHOGUN". The New York Times. 13 September 1981. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  6. Beamon, William (15 September 1980). "Shogun: $20-Million Samurai Saga Sprang from a Single Textbook Line". Evening Independent. p. 1B. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  7. JOYCE ILLIG (9 February 1975). "Book Business: Paperback Magruder Sawed-Off Shogun Engulfed". The Washington Post. p. 200.
  8. Schott, Webster (22 June 1975). "Shogun". The New York Times. p. 236. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. Smith, Henry D. II, ed. (1980). Learning from Shōgun: Japanese History and Western Fantasy. University of California, Santa Barbara / The Japan Society. pp. xi–xii, 18, 151. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2007.
  10. Smith, Henry (10 October 1981). "A Historian Reads James Clavell's Shōgun". History Today. 31 (10).
  11. Macdonald, Gina (1996). James Clavell: A Critical Companion. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 82–83. ISBN 0-313-29494-1.
  12. Allemang, John (29 November 1986). "Clavell bullies the bullies now that he's No. 1". The Globe and Mail. p. E.3.
  13. Bernstein, Paul (13 September 1981). "Making of a Literary Shogun". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  14. Kilday, Gregg (13 September 1976). "Mazursky: Next Stop New York". Los Angeles Times. p. d11.
  15. Otterson, Joe (3 August 2018). "FX Orders Alex Garland Drama 'Devs,' Limited Series 'Shogun'". Variety. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  16. Petski, Denise (30 September 2021). "'Shōgun': Anna Sawai Joins Hiroyuki Sanada & Cosmo Jarvis In FX Limited Series; Full Cast Set". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  17. "Shōgun - Official Trailer". Youtube. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  18. "How FX's 'Shōgun' Compares to James Clavell's 1975 Novel". TIME. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  19. "Wizardryは，連綿とつながる文化の鎖の1ピース――生みの親，狂王ことRobert Woodhead氏に聞く，その源流と80年代アニメの話". 4Gamer.net. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

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