In the ending of Shōgun, we see that Toranaga has been plying everyone and does want to be shōgun and his inner monologue kind of lays out his plans on how to accomplish this. My question, is it in his plans to betray Yaemon and Ochiba further down the line? He does want to oust the two usurpers when they make a mistake and I am guessing that he means Yaemon and Ochiba.
by PinesintheHollow
3 Comments
You got it right. That’s exactly who he means. His plan is to go to war with Ishido, be named Shogun, play the long game with Yaemon and Ochiba until they make a mistake that allows him to retaliate while saving face.
Which was basically what happened in Japan for real. After winning the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu (“Toranaga”) played nice, let Toyotomi Hideyori (“Yaemon”) marry his niece(?), but as time went on, Hideyori/Yaemon became a sort of rallying point for everyone who opposed the Tokugawa Shogunate.
So, in 1614, Tokugawa trumped up a mostly unfounded claim that Hideyori’s opening ceremonies for a temple were a prayer for the death of Ieyasu and his family, and he laid siege to Osaka Castle. First time didn’t quite do it and he had to do it again later. But the second time did the trick, and Toyotomi Hideyori wound up committing seppuku and Yodo-dono (“Ochiba”) shaved her head and became a nun.
Which freed the Tokugawa to have absolute rule of Japan for the next 250 years.
Here I am googling Shogun to help my memory. Read some Clavell as a teenager and have forgotten most details. Loving the new series and planning to read the book again.
It was great, the only thing I would have liked to see was maybe a short battle seen in which ishido is defeated and then shown buried up to his head and later dying. I just really wanted to see him get what he deserved. Otherwise it was a good ending.