“Shogun” imparts a personal tint to the events that grip the Castle of Osaka after the death of the Taiko, where a deadly clash ensues between Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and four feudal lords: Ishido (Takehiro Hira), Kiyama (Hiromoto Ida), Sugiyama (Toshi Toda), and Ohno (Takeshi Kurokawa). All five are a part of the Council of Regents, which was formed by the Taiko before his death to ensure peace in the nation until his heir comes of age. This alliance had always been uneasy, especially with Toranaga and Ishido butting heads over conflicting political ambitions, and now, the council wants to vote for Toranaga’s execution on the pretext that he has massively overstepped his bounds as daimyo.
To understand the complicated situation better, one must take a brief look into the real-life Council of Regents and the eventual collapse of the feudal system in Japan. Toranaga is based on daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu, who led a battle against Ishida Mitsunari (Ishido in the show) and his loyalists, and this win led to the rise of the influential Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. The tense political clashes between Tokugawa and the rest of the Council were undoubtedly more complicated than in the show, but the key point of interest is that Tokugawa enlisted the help of William Adams, as the navigator’s presence helped turn the tide of history.
In “Shogun,” Toranaga is held hostage in Osaka after the Council schemes to kill him, although they have yet to cast an official vote in favor of that decision. Meanwhile, the Erasmus crashes on the Japanese shore, and James is subjected to the whims of the local samurai Omi and his uncle, Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), who wishes to hide this development from Toranaga.
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