Shogun

John Blackthorne—known as Anjin or “pilot” to the Japanese—is an English navigator on the Dutch ship Erasmus, who slowly acculturates into Japanese society. Blackthorne is stubborn, always willing to fight if he feels he has been wronged, and very intelligent: He is an excellent maritime pilot, speaks Latin and Portuguese as well as English, and quickly picks up Japanese. Blackthorne is an ambitious man with a strong moral compass: He is eager to plunder the Portuguese Black Ship for his own gain, but refuses to allow a village to suffer on his behalf.

After spending the better part of a year in Japan, Blackthorne begins to appreciate Japanese hygiene habits, food, sexual attitudes; he also absorbs bushido, or samurai honor culture, which initially bewilders him. He falls in love with Mariko, a woman straddling the divide between her Japanese samurai background and her Christian faith. Given his knowledge of the sea, and of European warfare, Blackthorne becomes an invaluable vassal of future shogun Toranaga, who bestows on him the status of hatamoto and makes him a samurai. When the novel ends, rather than accept defeat at the burning of his ship, Blackthorne is resilient, planning to build a new fleet. 

Buntaro is Mariko’s abusive husband. He drinks heavily and has a nasty temper. He and Mariko have a complicated relationship—she married him only to assuage some of the shame of her father’s treason, and now refuses to sleep with him, which he finds intolerable. Above all, Buntaro wants Mariko to desire him. To make peace with Mariko, Buntaro serves her a beautiful tea ceremony and the pair agree to die by suicide together. When this doesn’t happen, Buntaro complains about Mariko’s relationship with Blackthorne to Toranaga, who reveals that he ordered Mariko to be divorced from the jealous, petulant, violent, and insecure Buntaro.

A devout Christian convert with a gift for languages, Mariko is also a samurai and the daughter of the man who killed Lord Goroda, the leader considered to be Japan’s great unifier—this treason brought shame on the family, forcing Mariko to marry the boorish and abusive Buntaro.

Initially, as Toranaga’s interpreter, Mariko finds Blackthorne repulsive and barbaric. However, as she comes to know him, they fall in love and have a fulfilling sexual relationship which is also Mariko’s only experience of romantic love. Deeply committed both to Catholicism and to bushido ideals, Mariko doesn’t fear death and teaches Blackthorne how to develop the patience and outward calm that will help him assimilate into elite Japanese circles.

Mariko plays an integral role in Toranaga’s plans to ascend to shogun. When illegally held hostage by Ishido, she threatens to die by seppuku unless he lets her go—an act that would bring him great shame. Later, during the attack at castle Osaka, Mariko sacrifices her life so that Blackthorne has time to escape.

The president of the Council of Regents who is angling to become shogun, Toranaga is a brilliant tactician who is often several moves ahead of his enemies and rivals. Ambitious and committed to his path to power, Toranaga is one of the few of the novel’s samurai willing to temporarily lose face to gain a long-term advantage. However, this pragmatism and strategic thinking make Toranaga unable to trust anyone else, leaving him a lonely man.

When Toranaga meets Blackthorne, he quickly understands that the Western’s knowledge of the sea and of European combat will make him an invaluable resource.

Toranaga has a mystical side. He believes in the Indian concept of karma, which he thinks destines him for the position of shogun, but he also believes the astrologer who told him that he would die by the sword.