The three shogunates
Terms
Each term has a rough English respelling. There is more on how to say Japanese words on the pronunciation page.
- Anjin 按針 ahn-jeen
- Pilot. The Japanese name given to William Adams, and to Blackthorne in the novel.
- bakufu 幕府 bah-koo-foo
- The shogun’s government. Literally “tent government”.
- daimyo 大名 dye-myoh
- A regional lord with his own lands and retainers.
- Emishi 蝦夷 eh-mee-shee
- The peoples of northern Honshu who resisted the early imperial court.
- han 藩 hahn
- A daimyo’s domain under the Tokugawa.
- hatamoto 旗本 hah-tah-moh-toh
- A direct retainer of a great lord, and under the Tokugawa of the shogun. Blackthorne is made one in the novel.
- kampaku 関白 kahm-pah-koo
- Imperial regent for an adult emperor. Hideyoshi’s title.
- samurai 侍 sah-moo-rye
- The warrior class, who served the daimyo and the shogun.
- sankin-kōtai 参勤交代 sahn-keen koh-tie
- Alternate attendance: daimyo spent every other year in Edo.
- sei-i taishōgun 征夷大将軍 say-ee tie-shoh-goon
- Great general who subdues the barbarians. The shogun’s full title.
- shikken 執権 sheek-ken
- The Hōjō regents who governed for the Kamakura shoguns.
- sonnō jōi 尊王攘夷 sohn-noh joh-ee
- “Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians”, the slogan of the shogunate’s opponents.
- taikō 太閤 tie-koh
- A retired regent. Hideyoshi, and the Taikō of the novel.
- taikun 大君 tie-koon
- “Great lord”, the shogun’s style abroad, and the source of tycoon.
Sources
This is a short general history. For more, start with these.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, shogun, Kamakura period, Muromachi period, Tokugawa period and Meiji Restoration.
- Merriam-Webster, tycoon, for the word’s origin and first use.
- Wikipedia, Shōgun (novel), James Clavell, Shōgun (1980 miniseries) and Shōgun (2024 TV series), for publication, cast, ratings and awards, read on 16 September 2026.
- Natural Earth, for the coastline on the map, which is in the public domain.