Shogun takes place during the 1600s in the country of Japan. It begins with the main character John Blackthorne, a British sailor who barely survives the journey to the island of Japan with a few members of his crew. Up to that time, the only Europeans who had anything to do with the Japanese were the Spanish and Portuguese, who organized trading between Japan and China, collecting a large profit in the bargain. .
The Book Shogun covers a number of historical events that took place during the 1600s. First was the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants, second the exploration of the word and the Far East by European traders, and third, the battle among the Japanese warlords for supremacy during the 1600s.
In this book, one of the big historical events that were represented was the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants. In Europe huge wars were fought between Catholic countries and Protestant countries. One way this conflict was portrayed in the book was when John Blackthorn and his crew met a Spanish priest in Japan. Even though they were alone and unable to speak the language, they saw this priest as a liar and an enemy because he was Catholic. The conflict between Blackthorn and the Spanish priests and traders was a very good representation of how the two religions viewed each other. To each other they were totally different, but to the Japanese they were practically identical. .
The book also showed how the Western cultures and Easter cultures viewed each other, and the contrasts between them. In Shogun, the author introduces us to Japanese history and Japanese culture. From the Japanese perspective, the Europeans were seen as inferior barbarians who were dirty, uneducated, and superstitious. The West thought of them selves as more advanced with their ships and weapons, and the Japanese as heathens and "monkeys". One way that the novel portrayed this was when John Blackthorn first started to live among the Japanese people.
The samurai had a major influence in the development of Shogun Japan; in order to understand this, the following should be known about the samurai. ... The samurai played a notable role in the development of Shogun Japan. ... The samurai created modern day Japan, and had a constructive effect on Shogun Japan by helping to unify Japan. ...
The shoguns were usually the most powerful samurai that married or killed their way to the highest position of power. The shogunate, the office of the shogun, was the most desired position of the Japanese feudal system. The shogun not only was the chief military leader, but he was also in control of finances, law, and whom got appointed to offices in the system. The empires of Japan and England were so vast that a shogun and king were not enough. The samurai were below, the shogun, in power status. ...
The Shogun of the newly unified of Japan had the momentous task of designing a social and legal system that would prevent the usurpation of power by the many fringe, yet powerful daimyo. ... If the clan was ever to be dishonored in any way, the shogun's punishments would cripple the clan, leaving hundreds of honorable samurai to become penniless Ronin. ... Both Motome and the Iyi were honorable samurai driven to the extreme of defiance by the harsh policies of the Shogun. ... If anybody is to be held responsible for the death of Motome and his wife and son, it is the Shogun. The Shogun...
The shogun's hold on power was weakening long before the arrival of Commodore Perry. ... The shogun was becoming viewed as a usurper of imperial power. ... In 1854 the shogun sought advice both from the emperor and the daimyo. ... In 1863 the shogun was summoned to the emperor and he meekly obeyed. ... A brief civil war followed between the shogun's supporters and the emperor's forces. ...
Noburnage Oda took control over Japan, but he did not take over the position of the Shogun. It is not until thirty years later after the Sekiganara War, the third emperor Ieyasu Tokugawa came on and reassumes the position of Shogun, and appointed himself as the shogun. ... On the top there is the Shogun (emperor) with his Bakufu (imperial court). ... They were the people that made the laws for the nation and gave advice to the Shogun. ... Fudai Lords are the Daimyo Lords who stayed by the side of the Shogun during the Sekiganara War. ...
Tokugawa was breaking down and many people in Japan were having problems especially with the shogun. ... The daimyos had to pay for their families" expenses because the shogun kept them and fed them. ... Controlling the daimyos and the samurais, the merchants felt hatred towards the shogun for putting them on the bottom of the social system. ... Many people believed that they should be loyal to the emperor and the not the shogun. ...
The head of the Tokugawa clan died in 1867 and was replaced by the son of a lord who was a champion of Japanese historical studies and who agreed with the imperialists claims about restoring the Emperor.Footnote7 So in 1868 the new shogun handed over all his power to the Emperor in Kyoto. ... Originally it was a tool of the imperialist movement that was used to show that the Shogun was not acting out the Imperial Will. Now that the Shogun and Komeo Emperor were dead there was no longer a reason to take on anti-foreign policies. ... What is a great paradox about the Imperialis...
Japan The Tokugawa Shogun ran Japan. The Shogun was the leader of the Samurais. ... They represented the elite and they paid respect to the Shogun. The Daimyo were in between the Samurai and the Shogun. ... The Tokugawa Shogun has his castle in the city of Edo. ...
Footnote7 So in 1868 the new shogun handed over all his power to the Emperor in Kyoto. ... Originally it was a tool of the imperialist movement that was used to show that the Shogun was not acting out the Imperial Will. Now that the Shogun and Komeo Emperor were dead there was no longer a reason to take on anti-foreign policies. ... What is a great paradox about the Imperialist's claims to restore the power of the Emperor is that the Meiji rulers did not restore the Emperor to power except symbolically because he was both too young and his advisors to power hungry....
