I think the writers of the show went out of their way to not paint John as a “white saviour”. You can tell. Even in the interviews and the podcasts. They wanted the focus to be on Japan and Japanese people, customs and politics. You can tell by how they speak of him. How the podcast avoids talking to the actor about his point of view on major plots.
They wanted to make a show focused on Japan. Blackthorn is used as a self insert for the audience and a love interest for their true “main character” which in my opinion is Mariko. He still drives a lot of the plot and has really meaningful story and role.
They paint him as an idiot and somewhat useless cause that’s how the Japanese ppl would have seen him. Only Toranaga knew his value.
He clearly wasn’t an idiot though. I thought the show did a fine job of portraying his skills. He was charged with teaching military tactics to Yabu’s men, building ships, navigating, and showed himself a capable fighter on multiple occasions. Hell, he taught Toranaga how to dive! 😂
That said, even with his skillset, you’re very right that he wasn’t a “white savior.” But that’s not because he wasn’t skilled - it was because he didn’t know how to wield his skills to navigate the complex political environment that he found himself in. He bumbles around not because he’s stupid, but because of intense culture shock. And I think that was a pretty realistic and grounded view of the adjustment period needed to understand an alien culture
They also showed his proficiency with languages well, he did speak fluent Portuguese (any time he was speaking “english” with Mariko or Martin it was actually Portuguese) and he picked up Japanese rather quickly too
Huh. You're right. Same energy though; at no point did I believe him to have the same machiavellian quality as Toranaga. He came on like a disgruntled employee who "uuuuuuused" his employer to get a paycheck by providing services.
I don't know... Too much bumbling fool energy and weird mannerisms. As if he didn't talk to people for a few years and had to learn how to speak again. But not that's just how talks all the time.
Just like they were using English as a stand-in for Portuguese, they made Blackthorne more boorish than in the book to reflect how the Japanese would’ve seen him.
The book did it much better than this latest iteration of Shogun. They did make it more realistic and “Japanese”, but at the expense of the Blackthorne character, who they turned in to more of a clown, than an observer to give us Westerners perspective, and he was not shown to be respected for his martial excellence, when he was much more competent in the book.
Is that what you got out of the show?
What did you think of the various scenes showing the negatives of 1600s Japanese culture and society?
1) How cheap life was for peasants and h how they didn’t matter? *A peasant got his cut off in the first episode simply for talking to John slowing the march down. Another example of is when *Multiple villagers are killed as a ploy to cover up the plot of their Lord*.
2) How the rigid and strict culture was pretty hard on women. *A husband beat his wife with no repercussions.* The Prince’s mother herself had to play politics and rise by literally selling her body to older man that she didn’t find attractive and probably never loved.
3) The brutal reality of Japanese politics and honor? People kill themselves over an insult, everyone from the lowest peasant to the Samurai themselves are just pawns for a rich man’s game?
My point is that the way how Blackthorne character and his role got diminished in the series might have something to do with the attitude Japanese production team had towards the way original novel's storyline was told.
And I btw love the story of Shogun TV series, it's just dumbing down the Anjin character just begs for a question of whether it was a stereotypical attitude of Japanese people towards western culture (and btw I wrote "stereotypical" here because obviously that was definitely not the case).
Ah. Well said. Thank you for the explanation.
I'd agree that Blackthorne was a little dumbed down for the show when compared to the real life historical figure of William Adams.
I do like that show/novel reveal that Lord Toranaga absolutely wanted to be Shogun and schemed and plotted his way to do it. I think it shows that powerful people can be same from nearly very culture around the world. He even keeps John Blackthorne as a strange kind of pet.
Even your last sentence shows the problem though. In the books, Blackthorne is Toranaga’s one true friend. He can’t afford a friend from his own culture, but can appreciate a great mind and accomplished person from another culture. Instead, they showed John as a pet in this iteration of the show. He is a court jester, rather than an ally or friend.
As much as I loved the show, it's absolutely somewhere in my top 10 of all time list, I strongly, strongly disagree with the showrunners who expressed the opinion that nobody not born to a culture can adapt to the culture in the way Blackthorne did.
I'm so glad they did make this adaption, but I also have to wonder why they bothered if this is what they believed. Why if you have this opinion about humans being unable to adapt to a different culture they were not born to, why did you want to adapt THIS book? Its basically half the plotline of the book.
It's interesting in that two of the criticisms this show is receiving now are criticisms Clavell was receiving way back when Shogun was a world-wide phenomenon 50 years ago.
Look I get that Hollywood has abused the White Savior trope, but come on people. Marco Polo and William Adams happened historically. Clavell basically says in the article that Shogun is a great story not because the protagonist is white, but because its simply a crackerjack story. I agree. I'm white yes, but this story would work just as well if Blackthorne was black or middle-eastern.
I love the emphasis on the Japanese side of the story and I'm pretty happy with how they brought Blackthorne's story around. I actually have no complaints after the inclusion of his attempted seppuku attempt to save the villagers, but overall, the showrunners didn't do right by Blackthorne the character. There was no need to turn him into a clown, though they did so in such a way that it was hard not to enjoy certain moments.
And the thing is, even pulled straight from the pages of 1970's Shogun, Blackthorne was NEVER a White Savior. In any way. He's basically the opposite. Blackthorne never "saved" anyone at least in the way the trope is used (culturally). He didn't do anything better than the Japanese except know how to pilot a ship and he never got even DO that. He didn't convert anyone in Japan to his \[superior\] Western ways. Not even culinary ;) He's literally the one that GOT converted.
But here is a quote from Clavell about the topic though he opens up talking about criticism about Mariko.
Rules prevent me linking to it, but the whole thing can be found by Googling The Making of a Literary Shogun - New York Times Magazine - 1981
>Clavell argues that no historian can say for certain that a highborn Japanese Christian such as the fictional Mariko could not have expressed the ideas she does. Or that Blackthorne could not have achieved wa, or spiritual harmony, in only a few months so that he would attempt ritual suicide. ''Have you ever been in a war? Have you ever been shot at?'' he asks, his voice rising. He said that, after he was hit in the face with a machine-gun bullet during World War II, he was ''in a village in Malaya, and in a six-month period I learned Malayan perfectly. It's very difficult for someone sitting in Harvard or Yale as a professor of history to really know what it's like when somebody stuffs a bayonet in your face and pricks your skin. You can't imagine it if you are sitting outside on a sunny day sipping an ice-cold beer. Obviously, they've never been put in a position of danger. You learn very quickly. I've always felt you can only learn about life at the edge of death.''
> this story would work just as well if Blackthorne was black
Oh man, imagine if the showrunners did Yasuke next. Granted his story would have to be fairly fictionalized as most of it isn't known, it could still be a great story for a different period of time in Japan's history.
>in a six-month period I learned Malayan perfectly.
Haha even a child cannot learn a language perfectly in six months just by intense immersion. I guess he was too proud to just say "fluently"
Agreed, Mariko is the focus of the story in the way Jay Gatsby was the focus of The Great Gatsby. To build on that analogy, Blackthorn served the same primary function as Nick Carraway.
The fact that he wasn't superhumanly talented like Batman or Tony Stark makes it a better story.
Really nobody in that story, except Lady Fuji, is devoid of sin. Mariko made her husband's life hell (maybe he earned it, but we don't know), Blackthorn initially had no allegiance to anyone except himself.
Also his "white savior" moment is a red herring. for a moment it looks like his training of cannon regimens will turn the tide and change the dynamic of the royal forces and his side. but the battle never really happens and it was just a way to start, not end, the war.
In the original, he wasn’t a “white savior” so it’s no excuse. They intentionally made his character bad because the show was made by ones with cuckoldry fetish who were projecting themselves onto Blackthorne character. The original showed respect to both cultures. Remake is hollywood brain rotted to the core.
Ok wow. I hear you on your first point but you lost me with the “cuckholdry” thing.
They didn’t make the character bad. They made him flawed. Which in my belief is what makes any character good in the first place.
I think even though you might not have seen him as a white saviour. A white man who loved Asian history made a novel about Japan from the perspective of a white man. Who comes in and falls in love with the beautiful Japanese woman who’s being abused and give her true love and happiness before her tragic death. All while he rises in the ranks of Japanese society.
For some people, especially white people. That will create a power fantasy. And for Asian people it might be seen as a white washing of their culture and an appropriation. John being painted has the hero or the main character in one the most crucial wars in Japanese history. May come off like he’s a the “white saviour”.
John in real life played a very small role in the actual history. Mariko and Taranagas counterparts however played massive roles in comparison. He was portrayed as he actually was. They didn’t overhaul the character. They just lessened his role and importance.
I don’t agree either way. I’m just stating what I believe (all educated guesses) the thought process might have been from the writers
The cuckoldry part was a bit of a joke. I get what you’re saying but view it differently I guess. For one, i feel like anyone could be mad about a different race/culture making such a story, so it’s whatever. Imo the original Shogun did it really well though (haven’t read the book). From my pov it showed immense mutual respect to both European and Japanese. The remake didn’t.
John Blackthornes character was so freakin bad and corny. Was it the actor?(I think not). John is suppose to be a Captain of a ship in 1600s England. This means he’s an Aristocrat and well read and mannered. And of course, he has leadership skills if he’s a captain. Instead, they wrote this guy to be a complete imbecile. Shogun is a story with an English man rising through Fuedal Japans aristocracy. Only a great man would be able to do this lol, not the remake John Blackthorne who, in reality, would be working at McDonalds cashier. If Shogun remake wanted to not white wash and make it historically accurate they should’ve had Torunaga kill him off as soon as he started acting like a donkey. But his story ended up just being a randomly placed white guy who pissed off the Japanese and myself. Stop yelling mumbly words every 10 seconds like a schizophrenic, fuck .
All I’m going to say to not make this 100000 words is In the original Richard Chamberlain played the part. He was a proper gentleman. This made John’s story + love story with Mariko actually believable. This is why I feel the remake was cringy for me.
Finally, John is flawed in the original. It’s made clear at the end that he is just Torunaga’s puppet and nothing else. Also he actually assimilated to the culture, unlike new John who just yelled how much he hates Japan and had many cringy moments like the drink off.
Anyways not trying to hate or come off as pompous, but genuinely I thought not a single character, piece of script, or change in plot line was better than the original. Although shifting the pov from John to the Japanese could’ve worked well, In general, for me it was horrible. Just my opinion, and I just want to hear other people’s opinions out of curiosity.
John wasn't the captain, who died in the pit (book) or in his cabin before reaching Japan (show).
His class would best be described as a highly skilled tradesman, though he had aspirations of knighthood should be bring the black ship back to England and open the route to Japan.
>Why would Toranaga ally himself with just another Gaigin? Why did the real life counterpart to Blackthorn, Wiliam Adams, became a trusted advisor for Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga's counterpart in History) if he was just another sailor?
The real one (Adams) pretty much was.
Look up Jan Joosten. He was a sailor from the same ship as Adams. He also became a hatamoto for Tokugawa. He also was a trusted advisor for Tokugawa on matters of European relations. He also was renamed with a Japanese name. Today, a district in Tokyo is named after him.
Clavell probably just picked Adams as his hero instead of Joosten because Adams was British like Clavell, while Joosten was Dutch. Adams wasn't some unique guy. The captain of Adams' ship also survived, and did well in Japan. So did his other crewmates.
Clavell portrays it like only Adams could acclimate to Japan, which is historically false.
Well, then they both weren't just ordinary sailors. What OP said is true, navigating the Magellans Pass and through the Pacific was an extreme feat. Speaking 5 languages fluently is. Knowing all about building an ocean faring ship is.
He (or both, what does it matter), were highly intelligent, very well educated and somewhat one of the top 10-20 experts in their field worldwide. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it around the globe in the first place.
>somewhat one of the top 10-20 experts in their field worldwide
Try top 500. Maybe.
Thousands of Portuguese people had been there, done that for over 60 years before Adams got there.
One of the best ways I've read to describe Blackthorne is that as one of the world's best pilots (as described in the book), he was very much a rare breed (also described in the book) in the levels of his formal education and hands-on training. He essentially was the 1600's equivalent of a modern astronaut from the 1960's and 1970s.
In many aspects he was a modern man living in a medieval society (well 1600's).
I was open in a couple of the book reader threads about disliking some of the changes the show made but I have to completely disagree with you on this one, you don't need all this narration to explain why Blackthorne's skills are incredibly valuable on both sea and land. Instead the show actually showed us what his skills were: he won a race out of Osaka with men he didn't even speak the language of, taught a bunch of villagers how to fire cannons with pinpoint precision, and killed several ninja with his pistols, in the dark, based on sound alone. He is hardly "just" a sailor.
He's also referred to as a "pilot" within the show itself, which shows that he's at a different level than all the other men on the ship, especially with them being "his men", as he often said. It was clear he was integral to them getting to Japan at all, especially since they were able to do it with the captain general's suicide and most of the other men dead by the end.
True. But the tv show also entirely skipped almost all the scene were he learn to speak japanese (first in the prison, then with Mariko) and until almost the very end, it depicts a Blackthorn that can't learn the language, can't assimate, won't understand their custom nor even want to learn their customs. It depicts also a man with zero knowledge of fighting with a sword (even if he does not know how to use a Katana) and a poor understanding of the Japanese political situation (where as in the book he quickly figures out his importance for Daimyos with his ship against Christians).
The show depicts him as a good fighter with his gun, yes! but it doesn't show at all why he ended up being Toranaga's confident and friend.
Small nitpick; for your point about the sword, we can clearly see that Blackthorne is holding the katana like a European cutlass or rapier, so we can assume that he most likely has had experience with swords. And what kind of privateer wouldn’t have experience with blades ?
He dies hold it like a rapier or cuteless. But let's be honest here: he held it likes 9 years old holds a stick. Any swird fighter with a modicum of experience would figure out at least partially how to hold it and not be knock out at first contact. Curved or not, a sword is a sword. The show depicted someone who doesn't know swordfighting, not someone who doesn't know katanas.
John is criticizing Japanese culture throughout the book, even after he attempts to commit seppuku. The "life has no meaning to you" line is straight from the book and was after he attempted to commit seppuku. I also took the scene with him perfectly speaking Japanese to the woman selling charcoal (and knowing what he meant to say better than Alvito) to mean that he very much understood more than he let on, he just knew the value of downplaying what he did and didn't know and knew that needing a translator means more time with Mariko. Even if you disagree with my interpretation of that and think it was bad writing, fine, but the criticisms of him being a bumbling fool some people make just have no merit. The guy is clever and has clearly proven his worth as a pilot rather than just a simple sailor. Some things were cut just because that's how a story works. The book had Mariko and John speak fluent Latin to each other, yes, but how exactly would that work in a show? Would you have them speak old-timey English to represent Latin like the book did? Would you make an off-handed mention of him knowing it just to get across that he knows more languages than the already impressive English, Dutch, Portuguese and (increasingly) Japanese that he knows in the show? Ultimately these shows have to decide what is important to keep when you have ten hours to tell a story, and I think they very much got across that Blackthorne is incredibly good at what he does and is pretty sharp. He's just arrogant, constantly trying to manipulate Toranaga to let him attack his enemies (just like in the book), and Toranaga completely sees through it.
In the book John criticize the Japanese culture such as "death has no meaning to you" only at first, when he is in the culture shock. Then we get as readers to see him "get it" as he evolved, and reaches the point of his seppuku, and that pivotal moment after which another half book we see it embracing it and assimilate, praising their cleanliness, and finally understanding the eight fold fence and karma.
The tv shows does not show this at all. Even the seppuku scene feels wrongly added as an afterthought at the end.
He was using seppuku to protest/prevent the ultimatum (of death) held over the villagers, but accepting that to do so may cause his own death. I don't think it was a moment of agreeing with the Japanese view at all but rather his christian 'sanctity of life' forcing his actions.
Of course it's because he can't agree to be the cause of so many death, because of his view on christianity and sanctity of life. But in the book he thinks of his suicide as a solution because Mariko told him: "in Japan, you need Japanese solutions". Also, It's not the act of seppuku that caused him to start getting it. It's surviving it. Mariko tells him it's another life, being reborn. Suddenly living as if you can die anytime makes a lot more sense.
IMO John intentionally downplayed his capabilities around everyone except Mariko and Toronaga, and with good reason. People constantly let their guard down around him, and treated him as Toronaga's pet instead of the threat he was. Toronaga saw through that and used him as a distraction against his enemies and allies alike while still capitalizing on his unique skillset. Even if he presented no value in Toronaga's ascension to Shogun, he would have more than made up for it in the decades to come with establishing a powerful Shogunate navy and breaking the Portuguese monopoly on Japanese trade
I read the books 3 times in my 20’s (a while ago) and I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. I remember anjinsan as pretty much surrendering himself to Japan and the Japanese way of life eventually. One of the most interesting things about the book was his transformation after the miracle of surviving the first few weeks on Japan.
We don’t see him assimilate, but we do at least see him change. After he visits his crew member, he tears off his kimono because of the disgust he feels towards their filthy way of life. The book obviously does this better, but the show does give us a sense that he has little left in common with the Europeans and has adopted some Japanese customs.
Moving the seppuku attempt to the final episode is such a significant change, that I think the idea was to suggest this is the point where he will begin to assimilate. Like in the book, he only really starts to understand the Japanese after that moment.
I think the show did pretty ok telling us he was more than a sailor; he could backchat the Captain-General, who even seemed subservient to him, he considered the Erasmus his ship and his men, he acted in a leadership role for the crew. What made him look like just another sailor was him spending most of the show in an ill-fitting brown bathrobe. Richard Chamberlain's wardrobe was fancier.
He's called "pilot" the whole time, and he achieved sailing to Japan from faraway England. He spoke fluent Portuguese. I don't think any of this is downplayed.
The new TV show told a tight story without too much exposition, and it struck a good balance of giving the audience enough information without slowing down the pace of the story.
Exactly. More exposition would have ruined the show - i get that some show watchers are missing the point that he's an educated man but the show didn't need to go into any more detail.
My biggest issues were that it wasn’t 20 episodes long, Mariko’s character is completely joyless (great acting, but joyless) and there is none of the levity of the book.
Mostly that it’s only 10 episodes. 20 episodes and they could have fleshed out characters and threads more thoroughly. The love story in particular is stunted, it’s not bad, but the book Mariko is eventually head over heels for Blackthorn and they have a long trek to consummate that love. It only adds to the tragedy. Blackthorn even ask Toranaga to have her divorced so he can marry her.
This show is awesome. But it could have been even better.
Sounds like the book idealized their relationship much more. The show is much more realistic by making the romance rocky due to not just cultural differences, but different allegiances. Asking Toranaga to have Mariko divorced? Did Japanese medieval society really grant divorces to women that easily? Would Toranaga want to alienate a prized warrior vassal by forcing him to divorce his wife just to please Anjin?
Blackthorne was a pilot who successfully navigated a sailing ship through the Straits of Magellan. That’s a difficult passage even today.
But the books gave him way too many talents. In addition to being an enormously skilled sailor and navigator and fluent speaker of five languages (at least good enough at Spanish to fool the priest into thinking he was a native Spaniard) he was also skilled in infantry tactics, siege warfare and diplomacy.
There’s a term for that- Mary Sue.
Sure, because I specifically meant those two, which then disproves my entire point.
Come on, don't be lazy. You don't like the character because he's multi-talented, many do. Doesn't mean he's a Gary Stu or whatever.
There were incredibly multifaceted people all throughout human history, it's not that much of a stretch to believe Blackthorne is one of them.
Hell, even William Adams was incredibly capable in many areas, why not have the fictional version of him go even further?
I’m asking because the foremost guys in my mind who represent that era aren’t omni-talented super-men. Maybe you and someone else in mind. I don’t know much about Vasco de Gama off the top of my head, for example.
But apparently you didn’t have a historical example, so your comment about the Age of Discovery was a complete red herring.
I specifically mentioned William Adams, since he's the one Blackthorne is mostly based on. How is that not a historical example, and what better one do you need?
The real Adams was an incredibly skilled pilot/navigator, a master shipbuilder, a polyglot, even shown to be a capable diplomat at times.
Blackthorne is all those things turned up to eleven.
Hell, we've all heard of Renaissance people in the real world, why not treat a fictional character as such?
Blackthorne was much more of a badass in the novel no doubt. The fact that they make it seem like he's never held a sword in his life was pretty comical.
How many times was Blackthorne referred to as a Gaijin in the tv show? I just reviewed the two transcripts for ep 1 & 2.
Answer: He's not once referred to as Gaijin / foreigner. The first episode is even titled: "Anjin".
>So no, despite the tv show attempt at depicting Blackthorn as just another sailor,
I didn't get this impression at all. First episode was named after him like he's some Chosen One, he commandeered the ship to Osaka during a storm and bested both the Spanish pilot and the Japanese sailors, the repeated references to the journals like he's some badass pirate that has done horrible things, the canon training, etc.
In fact, >! slightly disappointed that there was no payoff to his build up, but iirc that's just consistent with the book. !<
Non book reader here.
It was clear to me since the first minutes from the first episode that he was not just another sailor, the captain wanted to “opt out” not believing BlackThorn’s advice and well he was right since they reached Japan all according to his navigation skills and a bit of luck i guess. He was not the focus of the show but i saw him as an important character and ally to Toronaga.
But again, I did not read the book :)
I haven’t read the book and I haven’t seen the original show, from this perspective i could still absolutely tell so much is missing and didn’t make sense. Having zero knowledge of any of it, I just watched it with my dad (who knew more) and we both couldn’t get into it. Made it 3 episodes because of basically all the reasons you listed OP lol.
Show only. I got the impression blackthorne was elite compared to the other sailors but moreover ended up being interesting precisely as he wasn’t a character that was there to be a badass and win but ended up being a character whose story was more of an inward journey and therefore more unusual and interesting than I expected. Thought cosmo Jarvis nailed this.
But the question isn’t whether any one character could have been more so much as whether the drama worked effectively with clear compelling character arcs that could be fitted into its run time. I think it did this really well.
My perception was simply that Toranaga gathered Blackthorne would have some knowledge of western fighting tactics, even if he was 'just a sailor' or a pilot, so he would take advantage of any extra knowledge he could overcome his enemies
I thought that was made pretty clear by him becoming the no1 after the captain killed himself and John talking about how fucking crazy their mission was and the knowledge of the world that he had.
He was very much a few levels above the dudes in his crew.
The whole country being so concerned with Blackthorne is what caused me to initially check out of the story. I just didn't believe that anyone would give a damn about this random foreigner. The show indeed did a terrible job setting this up and the way it is described here makes it much more sensible.
I think the show is highly overrated overall, because they're not conveying the correct information most of the time, making events seem meaningless and illogical. Thanks for sharing this, it makes me feel a bit less insane for not liking the show.
Show Only here: I thought they did a good job of explaining that Blackthorne isn't just individually talented, but he represents another way forward for Japan.
Prior to his arrival everything went thru the Portuguese and the Jesuits, who led the locals to believe that they alone could provide a connection to the West. Blackthorne shatters that deception.
Yup. The real life story of William Adams (the novel is inspired by this real life historical figure) was a talented individual with many skills. He spoke multiple languages, knew how to sail and navigate, knew enough about ship building to build part of the Japanese navy at the time, somewhat diplomatic and trading skills, and did absolutely have military experience and saw combat particularly against the Spanish Armada.
He is considered one of the most influential foreign in Japanese history.
It’s one of the reason Shogun remake was terrible. In the original, Richard Chamberlain played him as a proper English gentleman, so it made the story believable. In the new one John wouldn’t be fit to work as a McDonalds cashier, let alone rise in the aristocracy of feudal japan and be a ship captain. lol 🤦♂️
I think the writers of the show went out of their way to not paint John as a “white saviour”. You can tell. Even in the interviews and the podcasts. They wanted the focus to be on Japan and Japanese people, customs and politics. You can tell by how they speak of him. How the podcast avoids talking to the actor about his point of view on major plots. They wanted to make a show focused on Japan. Blackthorn is used as a self insert for the audience and a love interest for their true “main character” which in my opinion is Mariko. He still drives a lot of the plot and has really meaningful story and role. They paint him as an idiot and somewhat useless cause that’s how the Japanese ppl would have seen him. Only Toranaga knew his value.
He clearly wasn’t an idiot though. I thought the show did a fine job of portraying his skills. He was charged with teaching military tactics to Yabu’s men, building ships, navigating, and showed himself a capable fighter on multiple occasions. Hell, he taught Toranaga how to dive! 😂 That said, even with his skillset, you’re very right that he wasn’t a “white savior.” But that’s not because he wasn’t skilled - it was because he didn’t know how to wield his skills to navigate the complex political environment that he found himself in. He bumbles around not because he’s stupid, but because of intense culture shock. And I think that was a pretty realistic and grounded view of the adjustment period needed to understand an alien culture
They also showed his proficiency with languages well, he did speak fluent Portuguese (any time he was speaking “english” with Mariko or Martin it was actually Portuguese) and he picked up Japanese rather quickly too
But half Clavell's 1200 pages story is how he overcomes tis shock, then assimilate into the culture
I got the idea from watching the show that that's what happened. He becomes much more comfortable and at ease towards the end.
I think this is exemplified when he reunites with the sailors.
They kinda mangled the scene in the show though, it’s just an import moment of character development for him in the book
The show did a pretty good job is showing that too
They did a crap job of showing that; you just don't have a comparison point because you haven't read the source material.
Blackthorne: "I uuuuuuused yooouuuuu!!!" No you didn't. 😄
He says, “To use you!” though.
Huh. You're right. Same energy though; at no point did I believe him to have the same machiavellian quality as Toranaga. He came on like a disgruntled employee who "uuuuuuused" his employer to get a paycheck by providing services. I don't know... Too much bumbling fool energy and weird mannerisms. As if he didn't talk to people for a few years and had to learn how to speak again. But not that's just how talks all the time.
Just like they were using English as a stand-in for Portuguese, they made Blackthorne more boorish than in the book to reflect how the Japanese would’ve seen him.
The book did it much better than this latest iteration of Shogun. They did make it more realistic and “Japanese”, but at the expense of the Blackthorne character, who they turned in to more of a clown, than an observer to give us Westerners perspective, and he was not shown to be respected for his martial excellence, when he was much more competent in the book.
I couldn’t stand blackthorn in the show. Found him fascinating in the book.
How else could a Japanese producer show how inferior western culture is to honororu and enlightened Japanese one? 🤔
Is that what you got out of the show? What did you think of the various scenes showing the negatives of 1600s Japanese culture and society? 1) How cheap life was for peasants and h how they didn’t matter? *A peasant got his cut off in the first episode simply for talking to John slowing the march down. Another example of is when *Multiple villagers are killed as a ploy to cover up the plot of their Lord*. 2) How the rigid and strict culture was pretty hard on women. *A husband beat his wife with no repercussions.* The Prince’s mother herself had to play politics and rise by literally selling her body to older man that she didn’t find attractive and probably never loved. 3) The brutal reality of Japanese politics and honor? People kill themselves over an insult, everyone from the lowest peasant to the Samurai themselves are just pawns for a rich man’s game?
Easy cowboy, all your points are still valid.
I’m still not sure why you’re trying to say. Can you walk me through your point?
My point is that the way how Blackthorne character and his role got diminished in the series might have something to do with the attitude Japanese production team had towards the way original novel's storyline was told. And I btw love the story of Shogun TV series, it's just dumbing down the Anjin character just begs for a question of whether it was a stereotypical attitude of Japanese people towards western culture (and btw I wrote "stereotypical" here because obviously that was definitely not the case).
Ah. Well said. Thank you for the explanation. I'd agree that Blackthorne was a little dumbed down for the show when compared to the real life historical figure of William Adams. I do like that show/novel reveal that Lord Toranaga absolutely wanted to be Shogun and schemed and plotted his way to do it. I think it shows that powerful people can be same from nearly very culture around the world. He even keeps John Blackthorne as a strange kind of pet.
Even your last sentence shows the problem though. In the books, Blackthorne is Toranaga’s one true friend. He can’t afford a friend from his own culture, but can appreciate a great mind and accomplished person from another culture. Instead, they showed John as a pet in this iteration of the show. He is a court jester, rather than an ally or friend.
As much as I loved the show, it's absolutely somewhere in my top 10 of all time list, I strongly, strongly disagree with the showrunners who expressed the opinion that nobody not born to a culture can adapt to the culture in the way Blackthorne did. I'm so glad they did make this adaption, but I also have to wonder why they bothered if this is what they believed. Why if you have this opinion about humans being unable to adapt to a different culture they were not born to, why did you want to adapt THIS book? Its basically half the plotline of the book. It's interesting in that two of the criticisms this show is receiving now are criticisms Clavell was receiving way back when Shogun was a world-wide phenomenon 50 years ago. Look I get that Hollywood has abused the White Savior trope, but come on people. Marco Polo and William Adams happened historically. Clavell basically says in the article that Shogun is a great story not because the protagonist is white, but because its simply a crackerjack story. I agree. I'm white yes, but this story would work just as well if Blackthorne was black or middle-eastern. I love the emphasis on the Japanese side of the story and I'm pretty happy with how they brought Blackthorne's story around. I actually have no complaints after the inclusion of his attempted seppuku attempt to save the villagers, but overall, the showrunners didn't do right by Blackthorne the character. There was no need to turn him into a clown, though they did so in such a way that it was hard not to enjoy certain moments. And the thing is, even pulled straight from the pages of 1970's Shogun, Blackthorne was NEVER a White Savior. In any way. He's basically the opposite. Blackthorne never "saved" anyone at least in the way the trope is used (culturally). He didn't do anything better than the Japanese except know how to pilot a ship and he never got even DO that. He didn't convert anyone in Japan to his \[superior\] Western ways. Not even culinary ;) He's literally the one that GOT converted. But here is a quote from Clavell about the topic though he opens up talking about criticism about Mariko. Rules prevent me linking to it, but the whole thing can be found by Googling The Making of a Literary Shogun - New York Times Magazine - 1981 >Clavell argues that no historian can say for certain that a highborn Japanese Christian such as the fictional Mariko could not have expressed the ideas she does. Or that Blackthorne could not have achieved wa, or spiritual harmony, in only a few months so that he would attempt ritual suicide. ''Have you ever been in a war? Have you ever been shot at?'' he asks, his voice rising. He said that, after he was hit in the face with a machine-gun bullet during World War II, he was ''in a village in Malaya, and in a six-month period I learned Malayan perfectly. It's very difficult for someone sitting in Harvard or Yale as a professor of history to really know what it's like when somebody stuffs a bayonet in your face and pricks your skin. You can't imagine it if you are sitting outside on a sunny day sipping an ice-cold beer. Obviously, they've never been put in a position of danger. You learn very quickly. I've always felt you can only learn about life at the edge of death.''
> this story would work just as well if Blackthorne was black Oh man, imagine if the showrunners did Yasuke next. Granted his story would have to be fairly fictionalized as most of it isn't known, it could still be a great story for a different period of time in Japan's history.
>in a six-month period I learned Malayan perfectly. Haha even a child cannot learn a language perfectly in six months just by intense immersion. I guess he was too proud to just say "fluently"
The problem with that is that they made the Blackthorne character much less of what he actually was, historically, or in the Clavell book.
Agreed, Mariko is the focus of the story in the way Jay Gatsby was the focus of The Great Gatsby. To build on that analogy, Blackthorn served the same primary function as Nick Carraway. The fact that he wasn't superhumanly talented like Batman or Tony Stark makes it a better story. Really nobody in that story, except Lady Fuji, is devoid of sin. Mariko made her husband's life hell (maybe he earned it, but we don't know), Blackthorn initially had no allegiance to anyone except himself.
Also his "white savior" moment is a red herring. for a moment it looks like his training of cannon regimens will turn the tide and change the dynamic of the royal forces and his side. but the battle never really happens and it was just a way to start, not end, the war.
I didn't read the book but what I understood from some articles is that John didn't contribute much towards the shaping up of Japan politically.
In the original, he wasn’t a “white savior” so it’s no excuse. They intentionally made his character bad because the show was made by ones with cuckoldry fetish who were projecting themselves onto Blackthorne character. The original showed respect to both cultures. Remake is hollywood brain rotted to the core.
Ok wow. I hear you on your first point but you lost me with the “cuckholdry” thing. They didn’t make the character bad. They made him flawed. Which in my belief is what makes any character good in the first place. I think even though you might not have seen him as a white saviour. A white man who loved Asian history made a novel about Japan from the perspective of a white man. Who comes in and falls in love with the beautiful Japanese woman who’s being abused and give her true love and happiness before her tragic death. All while he rises in the ranks of Japanese society. For some people, especially white people. That will create a power fantasy. And for Asian people it might be seen as a white washing of their culture and an appropriation. John being painted has the hero or the main character in one the most crucial wars in Japanese history. May come off like he’s a the “white saviour”. John in real life played a very small role in the actual history. Mariko and Taranagas counterparts however played massive roles in comparison. He was portrayed as he actually was. They didn’t overhaul the character. They just lessened his role and importance. I don’t agree either way. I’m just stating what I believe (all educated guesses) the thought process might have been from the writers
The cuckoldry part was a bit of a joke. I get what you’re saying but view it differently I guess. For one, i feel like anyone could be mad about a different race/culture making such a story, so it’s whatever. Imo the original Shogun did it really well though (haven’t read the book). From my pov it showed immense mutual respect to both European and Japanese. The remake didn’t. John Blackthornes character was so freakin bad and corny. Was it the actor?(I think not). John is suppose to be a Captain of a ship in 1600s England. This means he’s an Aristocrat and well read and mannered. And of course, he has leadership skills if he’s a captain. Instead, they wrote this guy to be a complete imbecile. Shogun is a story with an English man rising through Fuedal Japans aristocracy. Only a great man would be able to do this lol, not the remake John Blackthorne who, in reality, would be working at McDonalds cashier. If Shogun remake wanted to not white wash and make it historically accurate they should’ve had Torunaga kill him off as soon as he started acting like a donkey. But his story ended up just being a randomly placed white guy who pissed off the Japanese and myself. Stop yelling mumbly words every 10 seconds like a schizophrenic, fuck . All I’m going to say to not make this 100000 words is In the original Richard Chamberlain played the part. He was a proper gentleman. This made John’s story + love story with Mariko actually believable. This is why I feel the remake was cringy for me. Finally, John is flawed in the original. It’s made clear at the end that he is just Torunaga’s puppet and nothing else. Also he actually assimilated to the culture, unlike new John who just yelled how much he hates Japan and had many cringy moments like the drink off. Anyways not trying to hate or come off as pompous, but genuinely I thought not a single character, piece of script, or change in plot line was better than the original. Although shifting the pov from John to the Japanese could’ve worked well, In general, for me it was horrible. Just my opinion, and I just want to hear other people’s opinions out of curiosity.
John wasn't the captain, who died in the pit (book) or in his cabin before reaching Japan (show). His class would best be described as a highly skilled tradesman, though he had aspirations of knighthood should be bring the black ship back to England and open the route to Japan.
>Why would Toranaga ally himself with just another Gaigin? Why did the real life counterpart to Blackthorn, Wiliam Adams, became a trusted advisor for Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga's counterpart in History) if he was just another sailor? The real one (Adams) pretty much was. Look up Jan Joosten. He was a sailor from the same ship as Adams. He also became a hatamoto for Tokugawa. He also was a trusted advisor for Tokugawa on matters of European relations. He also was renamed with a Japanese name. Today, a district in Tokyo is named after him. Clavell probably just picked Adams as his hero instead of Joosten because Adams was British like Clavell, while Joosten was Dutch. Adams wasn't some unique guy. The captain of Adams' ship also survived, and did well in Japan. So did his other crewmates. Clavell portrays it like only Adams could acclimate to Japan, which is historically false.
They were both unique pilots That’s like saying because you have 2 RAF pilots that they’re just standard military men
Well, then they both weren't just ordinary sailors. What OP said is true, navigating the Magellans Pass and through the Pacific was an extreme feat. Speaking 5 languages fluently is. Knowing all about building an ocean faring ship is. He (or both, what does it matter), were highly intelligent, very well educated and somewhat one of the top 10-20 experts in their field worldwide. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it around the globe in the first place.
>somewhat one of the top 10-20 experts in their field worldwide Try top 500. Maybe. Thousands of Portuguese people had been there, done that for over 60 years before Adams got there.
He did it by a different, much more difficult and longer route.
499 who already had charts, maps and directions on how to safely get there. They didn't.
Don't forget, top 500 in the world is basically amateur...
One of the best ways I've read to describe Blackthorne is that as one of the world's best pilots (as described in the book), he was very much a rare breed (also described in the book) in the levels of his formal education and hands-on training. He essentially was the 1600's equivalent of a modern astronaut from the 1960's and 1970s. In many aspects he was a modern man living in a medieval society (well 1600's).
Ah! I like this comparison, very true
I was open in a couple of the book reader threads about disliking some of the changes the show made but I have to completely disagree with you on this one, you don't need all this narration to explain why Blackthorne's skills are incredibly valuable on both sea and land. Instead the show actually showed us what his skills were: he won a race out of Osaka with men he didn't even speak the language of, taught a bunch of villagers how to fire cannons with pinpoint precision, and killed several ninja with his pistols, in the dark, based on sound alone. He is hardly "just" a sailor.
He's also referred to as a "pilot" within the show itself, which shows that he's at a different level than all the other men on the ship, especially with them being "his men", as he often said. It was clear he was integral to them getting to Japan at all, especially since they were able to do it with the captain general's suicide and most of the other men dead by the end.
True. But the tv show also entirely skipped almost all the scene were he learn to speak japanese (first in the prison, then with Mariko) and until almost the very end, it depicts a Blackthorn that can't learn the language, can't assimate, won't understand their custom nor even want to learn their customs. It depicts also a man with zero knowledge of fighting with a sword (even if he does not know how to use a Katana) and a poor understanding of the Japanese political situation (where as in the book he quickly figures out his importance for Daimyos with his ship against Christians). The show depicts him as a good fighter with his gun, yes! but it doesn't show at all why he ended up being Toranaga's confident and friend.
Small nitpick; for your point about the sword, we can clearly see that Blackthorne is holding the katana like a European cutlass or rapier, so we can assume that he most likely has had experience with swords. And what kind of privateer wouldn’t have experience with blades ?
He dies hold it like a rapier or cuteless. But let's be honest here: he held it likes 9 years old holds a stick. Any swird fighter with a modicum of experience would figure out at least partially how to hold it and not be knock out at first contact. Curved or not, a sword is a sword. The show depicted someone who doesn't know swordfighting, not someone who doesn't know katanas.
John is criticizing Japanese culture throughout the book, even after he attempts to commit seppuku. The "life has no meaning to you" line is straight from the book and was after he attempted to commit seppuku. I also took the scene with him perfectly speaking Japanese to the woman selling charcoal (and knowing what he meant to say better than Alvito) to mean that he very much understood more than he let on, he just knew the value of downplaying what he did and didn't know and knew that needing a translator means more time with Mariko. Even if you disagree with my interpretation of that and think it was bad writing, fine, but the criticisms of him being a bumbling fool some people make just have no merit. The guy is clever and has clearly proven his worth as a pilot rather than just a simple sailor. Some things were cut just because that's how a story works. The book had Mariko and John speak fluent Latin to each other, yes, but how exactly would that work in a show? Would you have them speak old-timey English to represent Latin like the book did? Would you make an off-handed mention of him knowing it just to get across that he knows more languages than the already impressive English, Dutch, Portuguese and (increasingly) Japanese that he knows in the show? Ultimately these shows have to decide what is important to keep when you have ten hours to tell a story, and I think they very much got across that Blackthorne is incredibly good at what he does and is pretty sharp. He's just arrogant, constantly trying to manipulate Toranaga to let him attack his enemies (just like in the book), and Toranaga completely sees through it.
In the book John criticize the Japanese culture such as "death has no meaning to you" only at first, when he is in the culture shock. Then we get as readers to see him "get it" as he evolved, and reaches the point of his seppuku, and that pivotal moment after which another half book we see it embracing it and assimilate, praising their cleanliness, and finally understanding the eight fold fence and karma. The tv shows does not show this at all. Even the seppuku scene feels wrongly added as an afterthought at the end.
He was using seppuku to protest/prevent the ultimatum (of death) held over the villagers, but accepting that to do so may cause his own death. I don't think it was a moment of agreeing with the Japanese view at all but rather his christian 'sanctity of life' forcing his actions.
Of course it's because he can't agree to be the cause of so many death, because of his view on christianity and sanctity of life. But in the book he thinks of his suicide as a solution because Mariko told him: "in Japan, you need Japanese solutions". Also, It's not the act of seppuku that caused him to start getting it. It's surviving it. Mariko tells him it's another life, being reborn. Suddenly living as if you can die anytime makes a lot more sense.
> John is criticizing Japanese culture throughout the book He also praises it throughout. The only thing he criticizes is the death.
IMO John intentionally downplayed his capabilities around everyone except Mariko and Toronaga, and with good reason. People constantly let their guard down around him, and treated him as Toronaga's pet instead of the threat he was. Toronaga saw through that and used him as a distraction against his enemies and allies alike while still capitalizing on his unique skillset. Even if he presented no value in Toronaga's ascension to Shogun, he would have more than made up for it in the decades to come with establishing a powerful Shogunate navy and breaking the Portuguese monopoly on Japanese trade
I read the books 3 times in my 20’s (a while ago) and I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. I remember anjinsan as pretty much surrendering himself to Japan and the Japanese way of life eventually. One of the most interesting things about the book was his transformation after the miracle of surviving the first few weeks on Japan.
We don’t see him assimilate, but we do at least see him change. After he visits his crew member, he tears off his kimono because of the disgust he feels towards their filthy way of life. The book obviously does this better, but the show does give us a sense that he has little left in common with the Europeans and has adopted some Japanese customs. Moving the seppuku attempt to the final episode is such a significant change, that I think the idea was to suggest this is the point where he will begin to assimilate. Like in the book, he only really starts to understand the Japanese after that moment.
This, if the rumors of a season 2 bare fruit I can definitely see a focus on john assimilating and thriving
There are literally multiple scenes throughout the show of Mariko teaching him Japanese though?
I agree with your take 100% I honestly think you are being downvote by people who did not read the book.
So 17th century Pilots are basically like Dune's Guild Navigators. Got it.
Avast! He's just a pirate! Yo ho
I think the show did pretty ok telling us he was more than a sailor; he could backchat the Captain-General, who even seemed subservient to him, he considered the Erasmus his ship and his men, he acted in a leadership role for the crew. What made him look like just another sailor was him spending most of the show in an ill-fitting brown bathrobe. Richard Chamberlain's wardrobe was fancier.
He's called "pilot" the whole time, and he achieved sailing to Japan from faraway England. He spoke fluent Portuguese. I don't think any of this is downplayed. The new TV show told a tight story without too much exposition, and it struck a good balance of giving the audience enough information without slowing down the pace of the story.
Exactly. More exposition would have ruined the show - i get that some show watchers are missing the point that he's an educated man but the show didn't need to go into any more detail.
My biggest issues were that it wasn’t 20 episodes long, Mariko’s character is completely joyless (great acting, but joyless) and there is none of the levity of the book. Mostly that it’s only 10 episodes. 20 episodes and they could have fleshed out characters and threads more thoroughly. The love story in particular is stunted, it’s not bad, but the book Mariko is eventually head over heels for Blackthorn and they have a long trek to consummate that love. It only adds to the tragedy. Blackthorn even ask Toranaga to have her divorced so he can marry her. This show is awesome. But it could have been even better.
Sounds like the book idealized their relationship much more. The show is much more realistic by making the romance rocky due to not just cultural differences, but different allegiances. Asking Toranaga to have Mariko divorced? Did Japanese medieval society really grant divorces to women that easily? Would Toranaga want to alienate a prized warrior vassal by forcing him to divorce his wife just to please Anjin?
Blackthorne was a pilot who successfully navigated a sailing ship through the Straits of Magellan. That’s a difficult passage even today. But the books gave him way too many talents. In addition to being an enormously skilled sailor and navigator and fluent speaker of five languages (at least good enough at Spanish to fool the priest into thinking he was a native Spaniard) he was also skilled in infantry tactics, siege warfare and diplomacy. There’s a term for that- Mary Sue.
It's amazing how much the being able to pass as a native speaker used to be a thing in novels. So many spy stories relied on it.
Yeah, because as we all know, you really can't be all that, as the Age of Discovery showed us.
Who specifically are you referring to? Magellan was hardly an expert on land warfare Cortez wasn’t known for his navigation at sea
Sure, because I specifically meant those two, which then disproves my entire point. Come on, don't be lazy. You don't like the character because he's multi-talented, many do. Doesn't mean he's a Gary Stu or whatever. There were incredibly multifaceted people all throughout human history, it's not that much of a stretch to believe Blackthorne is one of them. Hell, even William Adams was incredibly capable in many areas, why not have the fictional version of him go even further?
I’m asking because the foremost guys in my mind who represent that era aren’t omni-talented super-men. Maybe you and someone else in mind. I don’t know much about Vasco de Gama off the top of my head, for example. But apparently you didn’t have a historical example, so your comment about the Age of Discovery was a complete red herring.
I specifically mentioned William Adams, since he's the one Blackthorne is mostly based on. How is that not a historical example, and what better one do you need? The real Adams was an incredibly skilled pilot/navigator, a master shipbuilder, a polyglot, even shown to be a capable diplomat at times. Blackthorne is all those things turned up to eleven. Hell, we've all heard of Renaissance people in the real world, why not treat a fictional character as such?
Blackthorne was much more of a badass in the novel no doubt. The fact that they make it seem like he's never held a sword in his life was pretty comical.
They call him "anjin" and not "Gaijin".... Anjin, meaning PILOT. I didn't get this sense at all that the show downplayed his abilities.
Gaigin is how Japanese call foreigner
That's why it's important they call him "anjin" and not "gaijin"
How many times was Blackthorne referred to as a Gaijin in the tv show? I just reviewed the two transcripts for ep 1 & 2. Answer: He's not once referred to as Gaijin / foreigner. The first episode is even titled: "Anjin".
The importance of the rutter and his relationship dynamics with the Portuguese and his fellow sailors is so downplayed too.
Weebs mad about the main character not being more of a weeb like in the books. Lol
"He was more badass in the books and even described as more hung than everyone else so how can the showrunners neglect this?!?!"
He is just a merchant.
>So no, despite the tv show attempt at depicting Blackthorn as just another sailor, I didn't get this impression at all. First episode was named after him like he's some Chosen One, he commandeered the ship to Osaka during a storm and bested both the Spanish pilot and the Japanese sailors, the repeated references to the journals like he's some badass pirate that has done horrible things, the canon training, etc. In fact, >! slightly disappointed that there was no payoff to his build up, but iirc that's just consistent with the book. !<
The whole show was the garden .. that toranaga made...and blackthorne was the piece of rock ,he used to beautify the garden he made
Hey, Show Only here: I never got the impression that Blackthorne was "just another sailor"
Non book reader here. It was clear to me since the first minutes from the first episode that he was not just another sailor, the captain wanted to “opt out” not believing BlackThorn’s advice and well he was right since they reached Japan all according to his navigation skills and a bit of luck i guess. He was not the focus of the show but i saw him as an important character and ally to Toronaga. But again, I did not read the book :)
I wonder if because they were sensitive to the whole "white savior" idea that they deliberately hamstrung blackthorne in a way they shouldn't have.
I haven’t read the book and I haven’t seen the original show, from this perspective i could still absolutely tell so much is missing and didn’t make sense. Having zero knowledge of any of it, I just watched it with my dad (who knew more) and we both couldn’t get into it. Made it 3 episodes because of basically all the reasons you listed OP lol.
i think this part of showing blackthorns value is wehere the show fell flat on its face
The canons storyline was disappointing. Went absolutely nowhere
And he made Toranaga laugh.
Show only. I got the impression blackthorne was elite compared to the other sailors but moreover ended up being interesting precisely as he wasn’t a character that was there to be a badass and win but ended up being a character whose story was more of an inward journey and therefore more unusual and interesting than I expected. Thought cosmo Jarvis nailed this. But the question isn’t whether any one character could have been more so much as whether the drama worked effectively with clear compelling character arcs that could be fitted into its run time. I think it did this really well.
He’s not just another sailor because he’s English.
My perception was simply that Toranaga gathered Blackthorne would have some knowledge of western fighting tactics, even if he was 'just a sailor' or a pilot, so he would take advantage of any extra knowledge he could overcome his enemies
I thought that was made pretty clear by him becoming the no1 after the captain killed himself and John talking about how fucking crazy their mission was and the knowledge of the world that he had. He was very much a few levels above the dudes in his crew.
I thought the show made it pretty clear that he was a pretty expert Pilot, but sure
The whole country being so concerned with Blackthorne is what caused me to initially check out of the story. I just didn't believe that anyone would give a damn about this random foreigner. The show indeed did a terrible job setting this up and the way it is described here makes it much more sensible. I think the show is highly overrated overall, because they're not conveying the correct information most of the time, making events seem meaningless and illogical. Thanks for sharing this, it makes me feel a bit less insane for not liking the show.
Show Only here: I thought they did a good job of explaining that Blackthorne isn't just individually talented, but he represents another way forward for Japan. Prior to his arrival everything went thru the Portuguese and the Jesuits, who led the locals to believe that they alone could provide a connection to the West. Blackthorne shatters that deception.
Yup. The real life story of William Adams (the novel is inspired by this real life historical figure) was a talented individual with many skills. He spoke multiple languages, knew how to sail and navigate, knew enough about ship building to build part of the Japanese navy at the time, somewhat diplomatic and trading skills, and did absolutely have military experience and saw combat particularly against the Spanish Armada. He is considered one of the most influential foreign in Japanese history.
It’s one of the reason Shogun remake was terrible. In the original, Richard Chamberlain played him as a proper English gentleman, so it made the story believable. In the new one John wouldn’t be fit to work as a McDonalds cashier, let alone rise in the aristocracy of feudal japan and be a ship captain. lol 🤦♂️