Warning: This post contains spoilers for episode 9 of Shogun.
Just one episode left in the sprawling, action-packed, emotional journey that is the FX film Shogun– loosely inspired by real events that took place in feudal Japan at the turn of the 17th century – the miniseries hit on one of the most devastating and pivotal moments in James Clavell’s best-selling 1975 novel on which it is based: the death of Mariko (Anna Sawei ).
In the lead-up to the penultimate episode, we saw Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) lose the trust of several allies, including Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and Yabu (Tadanobu Asano), by pretending that he actually intended to surrender to Ishido. (Takehiro Hira) in Osaka. Mariko, on the other hand, remained steadfastly loyal to Toranaga as his plan unfolded – going so far as to profess that she would take her own life for the offense of not being allowed to fulfill her duty to her feudal lord.
How is it Shogun portray ritual suicide?
Episode 9 spends much of its running time leading viewers to believe that Mariko will commit ritual suicide – a practice that was different for female samurai than for men – as an act of protest against the dishonor of being prevented from obeying Toranaga when escorting his wife. Kiri (Yoriko Dôguchi) and her consort Shizu (Mako Fujimoto) leave Osaka and return to their camp in Edo.
The custom known as “seppuku,” which specifically refers to ritual suicide by disembowelment, was reserved for men of the samurai class in feudal Japan. Women samurai had different methods, which traditionally involved cutting their own throat or stabbing themselves in the heart. The show seems to suggest that Mariko intends to do the latter.
To spare Mariko the horror of believing that, as a Christian, she will go to hell for committing suicide, Blackthorne is forced to be her second – the person who decapitates the samurai after he has begun the ritual, thus killing him. But when Mariko is about to kill herself, Ishido arrives with a permit approving her departure from Osaka.
Unfortunately, after Mariko is spared, Yabu’s betrayal leads to her being killed later that night in Ishido ninja assassins’ attack on the Toranaga compound. In her final moments, Mariko proclaims that she is sacrificing herself in protest against Ishido’s “shameful attack”, just as she had planned to do that day.
Mariko’s seemingly imminent suicide is by no means the first depiction of this type of ritual in the series, as several characters throughout the season have offered or threatened to commit suicide – and some have actually gone through with it.
In the previous two episodes, we saw a flashback in which the first general defeated by Toranaga committed seppuku followed by a harrowing scene in which Hiromatsu (Tokuma Nishioka), Toranaga’s most trusted general and closest friend, committed seppuku to save the people from Toranaga. three other generals of the same fate.
Is the show’s depiction of seppuku historically accurate?
The concept of seppuku originated from the belief in traditional Japanese culture that the soul resides in the abdomen, according to Thomas Conlanprofessor of East Asian studies and history at Princeton University and editor and translator of the landmark book Samurai and the warrior culture of Japan, 471-1877. “In Europe, the idea of someone’s soul, their center, is usually linked to the heart. In Japan, it’s the stomach,” he says. “So the idea that [samurai] would disembowel themselves was a bold statement that would earn the respect of their enemies.”
But although the historical practice prevailed among the samurai class during the period in which Shogun is set, the show’s use of the word seppuku is a “slight anachronism,” says Conlan.
“[A samurai] I wouldn’t have said, ‘I’m going to commit seppuku.’ They wouldn’t have referred to it that way,” he says, noting that “seppuku” is a Chinese reading of the same two characters used for the word “hara-kari,” a colloquial term that literally translates to “cut the belly.” and it was more common at the time. However, the two words essentially mean the same thing.
The characters’ tendency to Shogun readily volunteering to commit seppuku is also a bit of a stretch, according to Conlan. “The idea of protesting [by committing seppuku] it was extremely rare,” he says. “There are some credible cases where this has happened, but most of the time it was a way out for someone who had committed a serious offense and was going to be executed anyway.”
In the case of Hiromatsu, Conlan says it would be highly unlikely to allow someone who hasn’t committed a crime to do so as part of a ploy. “Most good commanders do not force their generals to kill themselves. It’s bad for morale,” he says. “[Seppuku] it was usually associated with some kind of serious betrayal. So in that case, everyone would assume [Hiromatsu] was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Toranaga. That’s how it would have been read.”
However, during a recent episode of the show’s official podcast, Shogun co-creator Justin Marks that although Toranaga did not intend for Hiromatsu to commit seppuku, his sacrifice made Toranaga’s ploy of accepting defeat truly believable. “There’s a great moment in the scene between Toranaga and Hiromatsu where Toranaga turns to Hiromatsu in shock because he didn’t intend for Hiromatsu to do that,” Marks said. “And I don’t think Hiromatsu knew that Toranaga wanted these generals to commit seppuku to show his enemies that he had surrendered and really given up and that he had no hope. But for this narrative to be perfect, his most dear general really has to do that and that’s something I don’t think even Toranaga wanted to do.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
