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.
Pictures
The paintings, prints and photographs come from Wikimedia Commons. Fourteen are in the public domain, one was given to the public domain by its museum under CC0, and one photograph is shared under CC BY-SA. Each is credited where it appears, and here.
- Sakanoue no Tamuramaro: Kikuchi Yōsai, from Zenken Kojitsu, 19th century. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- The Tale of Genji scroll, Azumaya: Unknown court painters, 12th century, Tokugawa Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Portrait at Jingo-ji said to show Minamoto no Yoritomo: Traditionally attributed to Fujiwara no Takanobu, Jingo-ji, Kyoto. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Takezaki Suenaga, from the Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba: Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba, about 1293. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- The Great Buddha of Kamakura: Adolph de Meyer, about 1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu: Unknown painter, 15th century, Rokuon-ji, Kyoto. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Kinkaku-ji: Martin Falbisoner, 2016. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized from the original.
- Oda Nobunaga: Kanō Sōshū, 1583. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Kanō Mitsunobu, about 1601, Kōdai-ji, Kyoto. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Himeji Castle: Photograph released into the public domain by its author, 2002. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Tokugawa Ieyasu: Kanō Tan’yū, 17th century. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Nihonbashi, by Hiroshige: Utagawa Hiroshige, Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, about 1833 to 1835. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Dejima, after Montanus: After Arnoldus Montanus, published by Jacob van Meurs, 1669. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Perry at Yokohama, after Heine: After Wilhelm Heine, the expedition’s artist, 1854. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Tokugawa Yoshinobu: Unknown photographer, Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Title page of William Adams’s letters: Pieter van der Aa, Leiden, 1706. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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