Hello everybody. Hope all of you are well. I know it’s been two months since my last newsletter. I’ve been busy, trying to finish the edits on my book. Also, my younger son is in his final semester at school. I spend a lot of time helping him research job ideas and enjoying what time I have left with him before he moves out on his own.
THE ACCURACY OF SHOGUN
On Tuesday, February 27, the new Shogun series will be out on FX and Hulu in the US. I don’t know how it’s being distributed overseas, but I’m certain there are many options. Haven’t decided if I will wake up at midnight to watch it on Hulu, but I am excited about it. I am particularly interested in how my favorite minor character, Fujiko, will be handled. One of the oddities I’ve learned about Shogun is that men tend to fall in love with one of two female characters, either Mariko (the love interest of the male lead) or Fujiko (the consort of the male lead). They are the Ginger and Mary Ann of Shogun. (That’s a Gilligan’s Island reference, if that makes no sense.) I always preferred Mary Ann. I will forever have a character crush on Fujiko.
But back to the accuracy, and I specifically mean the historical accuracy of the book in this case. TV will take separate liberties with the storyline. TV always does.
Shogun (the book) is historically inaccurate…a lot. The book was so popular that it inspired Japanese history professors to put out a companion volume called Learning from Shogun. (Free to download. Click here.) Shogun is over 1000 pages long. The companion volume is nearly 200 pages.
The example I often cite is the fumie, the image of Christ or the Virgin Mary that people were required to step on to prove they weren’t Christian.
The issue with the fumie is that Shogun happens in 1600. The appearance of the fumie in Shogun is nearly three decades too early vs. reality.
There’s many anachronistic items in Shogun. What James Clavell did was to look at the holes in his knowledge of historical details and pull things from later in time to 1600. However, if you read historical fiction written by Japanese authors, you will see this is not uncommon.
But that companion volume was only one thing of what Clavell inspired about Japan. Clavell’s first novel in his Asian saga series was “King Rat,” a novel set in a Japanese POW camp. (Clavell spent four years in a Japanese POW camp and wrote this 800-page book in 12 weeks. He wrote from experience.)
Clavell inspired many in the world to become Japanophiles. Those of us in the West know today that Clavell was wrong, because he was the one who inspired many in the West to find out for ourselves. He may have died in 1994, but he will live forever.
FREE KIMONO CONTEST
My fellow Japanophile on Instagram, Teaforest.Travel, is giving away a secondhand gold satin kimono. (Yes, I’m entered, as my wife would love this.) She does fascinating travel videos in Japan and will ship the kimono anywhere in the world. Please click here to check out her Instagram post and see the rules for entry. The contest will close on March 15 or earlier if she reaches 15k followers.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
As always, please check out my latest Japanese history posts on social media. Click here for Instagram. Click here to reach my YouTube channel. Some recent YouTube videos are below.
First American and Foreigner to Receive The Victoria Cross
The Kumaso and Hayato of Japan
Takayama Ukon: The Christian Samurai Who Said No To Japan’s Three Great Unifiers
The First Japanese Warlord To Convert to Christianity
Click here to follow me on TikTok. Click here to follow on Bookbub. Click on the button at the bottom to check out my books.
Please send emails to walt@waltmussell.com.