When I started Caught*Red-handed, one of my first posts was a review on a new Japanese restaurant that had opened in Manchester. It was dismal, and I don’t mean the restaurant. From that point forward, I realised that reviewing was not the way for me. Which was a shame, as I’d had this idea for a series (surprise, surprise) of Japanese oddities, and I was going to cover a different one each week. Too bad at this early stage in the game then, that I realised my reviewing skills were crap. And so I turned my attention to the intangibles of Japanese society, culture, philosophy and language. The blue-, or should I say red-print, for Caught*Red-handed, had changed forever.

The review hiatus would have continued indefinitely I feel, had a month ago I not have picked up my now battered copy of Shogun by the legendary James Clavell, and begun to read it once more. It is a truly captivating novel, and it is this love and warmth and general happiness that I get from a story of such calibre, that inclined me to don my reviewing cap once more, and venture directly into the melee. Come on, let’s see what happens..

First things first: James Clavell is a master storyteller. A true genius in the field of fiction, he has this unbelievable gift for lulling you into a world that grabs hold of your imagination, and holds your concentration steadfast for days, before finally spitting you out on a Monday morning with just one thought: “Where the hell did my weekend go?”

Shogun is set, as the name would suggest, in feudal Japan, at the beginning of the 1600s, just as Tokugawa Ieyasu was gaining kudos as the most likely contender for the Ruler of all Japan, or Shogun. Though based loosely on historical fact, Clavell’s ability to create such convincing and complicated plots, but deliver them in such an artistic and spellbinding way, guarantees you do not become ensnared in historical context.

The novel opens with, and continues to follow the life of, Captain-Pilot John Blackthorne of the Dutch sailing vessel, Erasmus (based loosely on William Adams). Prior to us joining the ship, their voyage has taken them from England across the Atlantic and to South America, where the ‘tyrannical’ Spanish and Portuguese are single-handedly wiping out the native culture of a continent and instilling Catholicism like it were a military device, rather than a religious one. Under the joint banner of Queen Elizabeth I and the Dutch Royal Family, their mission was to plunder the Spanish, wipe out as many towns and settlements as possible, and bring back loot like had never been seen before. Facing invasion however, and possible capture by the Inquisition, they are forced not to return, but to continue onwards, and manage to traverse the Magellan Straits, which brings them directly into the Pacific Ocean, a truly unchartered world for the English.

The book begins at night, there’s yet another storm brewing, and the crew, of both English and Dutch nationality, are starving. Scurvy has begun to take their teeth, and some are simply lying on the decks, waiting to die. The prospects, as you may have imagined, are not good. Blackthorne is secretly hoping for a miracle, as he believes that he can be the first Englishman to circumnavigate the earth. He has also heard about this fabled land, called ‘the Japaners’, which he believes is literally made out of gold. If he could locate this place, and get back to England via the Cape of Good Hope, then he would be knighted for sure.

We learn very early on those things that drive Blackthorne. We also learn, as the ship runs aground on a reef, that they are never going to make it, and just as page two finishes, when the entire crew believes itself to be dead, Erasmus somehow manages to clear the reef and sail directly into a clear, storm free bay. Though unconscious, and perfectly unaware of the situation, Blackthorne is the first English man ever to land in Japan.

Almost immediately, cultural differences between the Japanese and this strange, fair-haired ‘barbarian’, are apparent. It is a theme that drives the book, and at first, Anjin-san (the Japanese cannot pronounce Blackthorne’s name, and therefore refer to him as Mr Pilot throughout the book) tries to fight the Japanese and their ‘heathen’ ways. Of course, he has no concept of their language, therefore understanding their culture is absurd. The first encounter comes when they try to bathe Blackthorne. He has been confined to a ship for months, without washing, as Europeans at that time believed that bathing created disease, and was the reason why they were infested with lice. The stench, to the Japanese, is unbearable. Eventually, they have to force him into the bath, and force him to brush his teeth, something that he has never done in his life.

To further hinder his position, he realises that the Portuguese have already discovered Japan, and that their priests have already begun their proselytising, as in the Americas. He knows all too well that, as archenemies, the Portuguese will claim him a heretic, and have him killed. What makes things worse is that the only person who can speak both Dutch and Japanese is a Portuguese priest, Tsukku-san.

Both Anjin-san and his crew find themselves very quickly in the hands of danger, when they are forced into a pit in the ground until they can behave as ‘civilised people’. Believing themselves to be in a form of hell already, things deteriorate when the local overlord, or daimyo of the region, Kasigi Yabu arrives. To make an example, he randomly selects one of the men and has him boiled alive, his screams resonating throughout the town for an entire night. Furthermore, on being released from the pit, Anjin-san witnesses Yabu-sama decapitating one of his samurai for what he can only make out to be no reason whatsoever.

Anjin-san is truly petrified by these encounters, and can think of nothing but getting as far away from Japan as possible. This is not the world he expected it to be, and he seemingly has no control over his destiny. However, Anjin-san is not an idiot himself, and realises almost immediately that in order to beat the situation he must show these heathens that he understands them, and that he can be as ‘civilised’ as they like.

The arrival of a strange man with a strange crew aboard a strange ship full of strange treasure, strange books on how to circumnavigate the earth, and a strange powder that can blow up things when shot from a gun (something which the Japanese have never seen before) alights the attention of the overall ruler of the Kwanto (real life Kantó region), daimyo Toranaga (Tokugawa Ieyasu). And it is that this point that things for Anjin-san seemingly begin to alter.

Toranaga is a very astute man, and plays his life like it were a chess game, and all his people like the pieces upon the board. He knows the end move, and all the moves in between, before the enemy even realises that he is at war, and Anjin-san becomes yet another, very valuable piece, in this puzzle.

Being told that he must learn Japanese in six months (I know, I know, I gasped at such a deadline also!), he is assigned Mariko, a member of Toranaga’s aristocracy, who can also speak Portuguese and Latin, as she has been converted (partially) to Catholicism by the Portuguese. Through her, Anjin-san begins to put together the labyrinth of language that is Japanese. Romance also breaks out, which would be fine and dandy had it not been for Mariko already being married to another. Her abusive relationship does not feature heavily in the plot, however it does help in explaining why a woman in feudal Japan would fall for another, seemingly as they have no word for ‘love’ and can only ‘honour’ and ‘do their duty’ for their husband, which is the most important, and precious thing to a woman.

Clavell’s story winds this way and that, finding Anjin-san in one after another impossible situation, all of which he manages to overcome. However, it is all at Toranaga’s will that he succeeds, and the reader gets the distinct feeling that had Toranaga not had an end purpose for Anjin-san, then he would undoubtedly have had him fail much earlier in the game. His skill for manipulation, for making people think that an idea was theirs, and interpreting how they would then react, is remarkable, and Clavell continuously shows us his prowess for storytelling when blatant dead ends seem to spring open yet further trapdoors of discovery for the characters.

As the blurb on the back of my copy of the book quotes, this truly is a ‘tour de force’ of unparalleled proportion, and has surprises and depth of interest beyond anything I thought possible. If samurais, wars and seppuku (ritualised death) are not your bag, then there’s enough romance, religion, intrigue, geishas, and interwoven plotlines to keep you merrily reading on until the end.

Clavell’s masterful plotting immediately provokes a reaction in the reader, illuminating the Japanese as no more than barbaric animals. You immediately feel compelled to empathise with Anjin-san and his crew, however as the plot unravels, Clavell, almost without you realising, takes you on a journey that will alter your perceptions beyond all belief.

When reading this book I feel myself being drawn into Anjin-san’s world, being physically pulled off the sofa and into the streets. I can see Osaka castle with my own eyes, I have walked through Yedo (Edo) on my own feet, I have smelled the ocean spray in Izu bay, and I have seen the whites of the eyes of every samurai that has tried to kill me, right from page one, through to the very last. It is truly an incredible read, and for anybody who has even a passing interest in Japan and its history, then this is a logical, yet exceedingly enjoyable, place to start.

PLUS: Check back soon for the launch of RedBox on 24th October, where blogging will take a decidedly aural twist at Caught*Red-handed. AND: More exclusive content to come very soon..