The true story behind Shogun
The novel 'Shogun' has inspired not one but two award-winning series…but the real-life history behind these works of art is every bit as compelling.
Image: Statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at Hokoku Shrine in Osaka, Japan | stock.adobe.com
When James Clavell’s novel was first adapted for the small screen in 1980, the mini-series achieved NBC’s highest Nielsen ratings in history and was credited with popularising Japanese culture in the USA, including proliferating one of the country’s greatest inventions in the shape of its sushi restaurants.
Now, a new version is bringing the epic to a whole new audience. Released earlier this year, the 2024 Shogun follows a similar blueprint to that laid out by its predecessor. But how historically accurate is either? We explore the real story behind the new series, below.
Set against a backdrop of true events
Shogun opens in 1600, with Japan bruised and battered after almost 150 years of civil war. Feudal lords known as daimyo had been vying for supremacy in the country for nearly one and a half centuries and although one warlord (Oda Nobunaga) did come close to unifying his people, he was assassinated by one of his own men before achieving his goal.
The assassin was killed in turn by another of Oda’s vassals, a low-born retainer known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi who assumed the role of Taiko (imperial ruler) in 1590. Toyotomi himself died eight years later with his son too young to assume power, but the outgoing Taiko forged an uneasy council of five regents to rule until his heir came of age.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese had established a trading foothold in the country (the only European power yet to do so) and were keen to ultimately take it over via the conversion of its ruling class to Catholicism. Into this geopolitical melting pot stumbled an English Protestant navigator aboard a Dutch trading vessel, whose crewmates either died in voyage or were executed in ever grislier ways, including being boiled alive.
It is at this point that the series commences - and so far, so faithful.
Real people, fake names
All of the aforementioned personages did exist and events did occur. However, in writing his hugely popular 1975 novel – which served as the source material for both series – James Clavell decided to cleave to history in many respects, but change the names of all his characters in order to endow himself with greater dramatic license where desired.
For example, in the series the recently deceased peasant-born Taiko is called Nakamura not Toyotomi, and he served the murdered Goroda not Oda. Within the five-member council, the two most prominent members are Lord Toranaga (one of the series’ main protagonists, based on the real-life Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu) and Lord Ishido (the chief antagonist, based on the real-life Lord Ishida Mitsunari).
Meanwhile, the apparently incongruous Englishman who washes up on a Japanese beach speaking Portuguese in a land he’s never even heard of let, alone visited – he also existed. In the series, his name is John Blackthorne; in real life, it was William Adams. Nonetheless, he was indeed the first Englishman to set foot on Japanese soil and he did indeed fight against the Spanish Armada prior to his adventures in the Far East.
Exaggerations and anachronisms
As with the majority of TV and film creations, certain events have been embellished, exaggerated or even fabricated entirely. However, it’s certainly true that Adams caught the eye of Ieyasu, who recognised the potential inherent in a possible new trading partner from Europe.
Although our information on their relationship relies solely on Adams’ letters home to his wife, we can infer that he was showed favour by Ieyasu, who took advantage of Adams’ navigational skills to consult with him on maritime policy and likely endowed him with an estate. However, his role in the actual war and its aftermath has been greatly exaggerated by the author and indeed the creators of the show(s).
And what about Mariko? She was based on Lady Hosokawa Gracia, the real-life daughter of the aforementioned traitorous assassin who murdered Oda. She was a Catholic convert and deeply loyal to Ieyasu. However, she died before Adams before even landed in Japan, making the intertwining of their narratives a purely fictional construct.
More historical fiction than fantasy
The specific intrigues which take place between the various warring regents in the series are at best guesswork and at worst invention on the part of the author. Nonetheless, it’s certainly true that Ieyasu overcame plots against him to triumph at the notorious Battle of Sekigahara, which took place six months after the arrival of Adams in 1600.
This colossal battle would see over 36,000 warriors dead or injured in just a single day’s combat, but in its aftermath Ieyasu would confirm himself as Shogun of Japan. His ascension to the role of supreme ruler would instigate a period of some 250 years of peace - relatively speaking at least. And although the series stops short of such events, it portrays the run-up to them fairly faithfully.
In this manner, it’s perhaps not quite as historically accurate as something like Hilary Mantel’s depiction of Henry VIII’s tumultuous reign in Wolf Hall. But it’s certainly a whole lot more authentic than George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, which is based loosely (and we mean that in the loosest sense) on the War of the Roses in medieval England. So a swashbucklingly good (but not necessarily infallible) history lesson, then.
