The Blue-Eyed English Samurai That Inspired A Best-Selling Book
How William Adams became Miura Anjin
“And you will build your ship and I’ll destroy her like I destroyed the other one, or give her away, another sop to the Christians who are more important to me than your ships, my friend, so sorry, and the other ships waiting in your home land. Your countrymen will bring those out to me, and the treaty with your Queen. Not you. I need you here.
Fifty times or more I’ve had to consider giving your life away but so far, I’ve always managed to avoid it. I hope to continue to do that. Why…The answer is because you make me laugh and I need a friend…Anjin-san, my friend, it is your karma never to leave this land. It is mine to be Shōgun.” — Lord Toranaga, Shōgun by James Clavell
When I was a kid, I remember my mom watching a television mini-series about an English captain named Blackthorne who landed on the shores of Japan in the 1600s. Recently, it’s been revived to much acclaim.
The story is a clever piece of fiction. The sailor finds himself in a foreign land where his only translators are from Portugal, an enemy nation.
Later this fish out of water becomes fluent in Japanese and the right-hand man for Lord Toranaga — eventual ruler of the island. I’d later read the book it was…
