Shogun
by James Clavell
(New York: Atheneum, 1975)
He knew they were all afraid of him, even the Captain-General, and that most hated him. But that was normal, for it was the pilot who commanded at sea; it was he who set the course and ran the ship, he who brought them from port to port.
Page 5.
A rutter was a small book containing the detailed observations of a pilot who had been there before. It recorded magnetic compass courses between ports and capes, headlands and channels. It noted the sounding and depths and color of the water and the nature of the seabed. It set down the how we got there and how we got back: how many days on a special tack, the pattern of the wind, when it blew and from where, what currents to expect and from where; the time of storms and the time of fair winds; where to careen the ship and where to water; where there were friends and where foes; shoals, reefs, tides, havens; at gest, everything necessary for a save voyage.
Page 5.
There as happy activity and they passed to and fro, stopping, bargaining, bowing to each other, seemingly oblivious of him, like so many multicolored butterflies. Bu5 he felt eyes studying him from every window and doorway as he walked toward the shore. … They’ve no weapons, he thought, astounded. No swords or guns! Why is that?
Page 17.
They all bowed low. Except one man who rose deliberately, without bowing.
With blinding speed the killing sword made a hissing silver arc and the man’s head toppled off his shoulders and a fountain of blood sprayed the earth. The body rippled a few times and was still.
Page 20.
Blackthorne disliked having anyone near him.
Page 22.
Most samurai belonged to the Zen Buddhist sect, since it suited, seemed almost to be designed for, a proud, death-seeking warrior.
Page 29.
“Everyone knows baths are dangerous. You want me to catch the flux? You think I’m God-cursed stupid?”
Page 31.
“Bath!” Mura ordered, shocked at the barbarian’s open anger - the height of bad manners.
Page 31.
As long as he cold remember he had hated barbarians, their stench and filthiness and disgusting meat-eating habits, their stupid religion and arrogance and detestable manners.
Page 36.
Blackthorne sighed. Life is marvelous, he thought.
Page 40.
When the Portuguese had first discovered Japan in 1542, they had introduced muskets and gunpowder. Within eighteen months the Japanese were manufacturing them. The quality was not nearly as good as the European equivalent but that did not matter because guns were considered merely a novelty and, for a long time, used only for hunting.
Page 42.
The use of guns was considered cowardly and the dishonorable and completely against the samurai code, bushido, the Way of the Warrior, which bound samurai to fight with honor, to live with honor, and to die with honor.
Page 42.
Toranaga was President of the Council of Regents which the Taikō had appointed on his deathbed to rule the empire during the minority of his son Yaemon.
Page 43.
A consort was a formal, legal mistress. A man could have as many consorts as he wished, but only one wife at one time.
Page 43.
Seppuku, sometimes called hara-kiri, the ritual suicide by disembowelment, was the only way a samurai could expiate a shame, a sin, or a fault with honor, and was the sole prerogative of the samurai caste. All samurai - women as well as men - were prepared from infancy, either for the act itself or to take part in the ceremony as a second. Women committed seppuku only with a knife in the throat.
Page 44.
Shōgun was the ultimate rank a mortal could achieve in Japan. Shōgun meant Supreme Military Dictator. Only one daimyo at a time could possess the title. And only His Imperial Highness, the reigning Emperor, the Divine son of Heaven, who lived in seclusion with the Imperial Families at Kyoto, could grant the title.
With the appointment of Shōgun went absolute power: the Emperor’s seal and mandate. The Shōgun ruled in the Emperor’s name. all power was derived from the Emperor because he was directly descended from the gods. Therefore any daimyo who opposed the Shogun was automatically in rebellion against he throne, and at once outcast and all his lands forfeit.
Page 45.
The Emperor and the entire Imperial Court were kept completely isolated in walled palaces and gardens in the small enclave at Kyoto, most times in penury, and their activities perpetually confined to observing the rituals of Shinto, the ancient animistic religion of Japan, and to intellectual pursuits such as calligraphy, painting, philosophy, and poetry.
Page 46.
Although all members of the Imperial Court were above all samurai in rank, they still existed on a stipend granted the Court at the whim of the Shōgun … . Few were generous. Some Emperors had even had to barter their signatures for food. Many times there was not enough money for a coronation.
Page 46.
As the civil wars continued unabated over the centuries, the Emperor became more and more the creature of the daimyo who was strong enough to obtain physical possession of Kyoto.
Page 46.
Ronin were landless or masterless peasant-soldiers or samurai who, through dishonor or the loss of their masters, were forced to wander the land until some other lord would accept their services.
Page 49.
“Poor God,” Blackthorne said. “The stupidities He gets blamed for.”
Page 51.
Bad manners are unforgivable.
Page 60.
A koku of rice was a measure that approximated the amount of rice it took to keep one family alive for one year. About five bushels. Perhaps three hundred and fifty pounds of rice. All income in the realm was measured by koku.
Page 60.
That’s the only thing they respect. Being strong. Showing no fear.
Page 71.
“Omi-san says he does not care if you are a king in your own country. Here you live at Lord Yabu’s whim - you and all your men.”
Page 72.
“Omi-san says that he had not insulted you personally, neither was there any cause for you to insult him. Because you are a barbarian and know no better yet, you will not be killed. But you will be taught manners.”
Page 73.
“Omi-san says, it is bad manners to say that you will piss on anyone. Very bad. It is bad manners and very stupid to say you will piss on anyone when you are unarmed. It is very bad manners and even more stupid to say you will piss ono anyone when you are unarmed, powerless, and not prepared to allow your friends or family or whomever to perish first.”
Page 73.
How foolish, Omi thought, and how naive to be so open.
Page 74.
“From now on his name is Anjin - Pilot - neh? When he merits it, he will be called Anjin-san. Explain to him that there are no sounds in our tongue for us to say his real name as it is.” Omi added dryly, “Impress upon him that this is not meant to be insulting.”
Page 74.
A hatamoto was a special personal retainer of a daimyo who had the right of access to his lord and could wear swords in the presence of his lord.
Page 75.
Though foreign priests were protected, their Japanese converts were not.
Page 96.
The Ingeles asks lots of questions and volunteers nothing, Rodrigues thought. He’s shrewd, clever, and dangerous.
Page 104.
What is pain to a man? A privilege! Masking pain is the measure of a man.
Page 111.
The Japanese doctor came several times and forced Rodrigues to drink hot medicine and put hot towels on his forehead and opened the portholes. And every time the doctor went away Blackthorne closed the portholes, for everyone knew that disease was airborne, that the tighter closed the cabin the safer and more healthy, when a man was as bad as Rodrigues.
Page 123.
All Japan’s officially forbidden to us, except the ports of Nagasaki and Hirado.
Page 125.
The officer at the gate came forward. There was a ceremonial reading of the paper that Hiro-matsu offered.
Page 128.
Blackthorne felt the almost overwhelming power of the man reach out to him.
Page 131.
Yoshi Toranaga, Lord of the Kwanto - the Eight Provinces - head of the clan Yoshi, Chief General of the Armies of the East, President of the Council of Regents, was a short man with a big belly and large nose. His eyebrows were thick and dark and his mustache and beard gray-flecked and sparse. Eyes dominated his face. He was fifty-eight and strong for his age. His kimono was simple, an ordinary Brown uniform, his sash belt cotton. But his swords were the best in the world.
Page 132.
As the allegiance of the Christian daimyos wavered, so it was with all the other daimyos in the land, and the balance of power between the two leaders fluctuated constantly, so no one knew or certain which side was, in reality, the most powerful.
Page 140.
Ishido Kazunari was lean and swarthy and very tough, a year younger than Toranaga. They were ancient enemies. Eighty thousand samurai in and around Osaka Castle did his bidding, for he was Commander of the garrison - and therefore Commander of the Heir’s Bodyguard - Chief General of the Armies of the West, Conqueror of Korea, member of the Council or Regents, and formally Inspector General of all the late Taiko’s armies, which were legally all the armies of all the daimyos throughout the realm.
Page 140.
Apart from being anti-Christian, Ishido had always been vigorous in his condemnation of all Europeans and wanted the Empire totally closed to them.
Page 141.
Though it was true that Blackthorne had, uniquely, come out of the eastern seas - unlike the Portuguese, who always came from the south and hence were called Southern Barbarians - Ishido was blatantly implying that Toranaga, who dominated the eastern provinces, was the true freak.
Page 141.
The less foreigners know, the better. The less anyone knows the getter, he thought.
Page 142.
Karma was an Indian word adopted by Japanese, part of Buddhist philosophy that referred to a person’s fate in this life, his fate immutably fixed because of deeds done in a previous life, good deeds giving a better position in this life’s strata, bad deeds the reverse. Just as the deeds of this life would completely affect the next rebirth. A person was ever being reborn into this world of tears, until, after enduring and suffering and learning through many lifetimes, he became perfect at long last, going to nirvana, the Place of Perfect Peace, never having to suffer rebirth again.
Page 146.
How beautiful lie is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.
Page 146.
the first rule of survival in enemy waters; volunteer nothing.
Page 156.
It’s hard, señor, to be patient.
Page 160.
Always remember that Japaners put a great price on manners and courtesy.
Page 160.
Blackthorne felt reborn.
Page 162.
This cleanliness was incredible to Blackthrone because in London and the cities and towns of England - and Europe - offal and night soil and urine were cast into the streets, to be scavenged or allowed to pile up until pedestrians and carts and horses could not pass.
Page 164.
Almost the only supportable way of life open to a samurai unlucky enough to become ronin was to become a monk or bandit.
Page 169.
A leader has to be better than his vassals in everything, in every way.
Page 185.
Yabu was certain that Toranaga had decided to remove his head, one way or another, for, by universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction.
Page 194.
Father Alvito rode down the hill from the castle at the head of his usual company of Jesuit outriders. All were dressed as Buddhist priests except for the rosary and crucifix they wore at their waists. There were forty outriders, Japanese, all well-born sons of Christian samurai, students from the seminary at Nagasaki who had accompanied him to Osaka. All were well mounted and caparisoned and as disciplined as the entourage of any daimyo.
Page 200.
I am Captain-General of the Black Ship this year, therefore Governor of Macao this year, with viceregal powers over these waters this year, and if I want to eliminate him, or Toranaga or whomever, I will.
Page 203.
Christianity is tolerated here only because all daimyos believe absolutely that if they expel us and stamp out the Faith, the Black Ship’s will never come back.
Page 204.
Backthorne hated doctors and feared them. But this doctor was different. This doctor was gentle and unbelievably clean. European doctors were barbers mostly and uncouth, and as louse-ridden and filthy as everyone else. This doctor touched carefully and peered politely and held Blackthorne’s wrist to feel his pulse, looked into his eyes ad mouth and ears, and softly taped his back and his knees and the soles of his feet, his touch and manner soothing. All a European doctor wanted was to look at your tongue and say “Where is the pain?” and bleed you to release the foulnesses from your blood and give you a violent emetic to clean away the foulnesses form your entrails.
Page 214.
Men don’t apologize to ladies. Whatever they do is correct.
Page 217.
Women don’t have wisdom or knowledge in political things.
Page 218.
One of these ladies would be delighted to pillow you, Anjin-san. Or all of them, if you wish.
Page 218.
How can you be healthy without pillowing? It’s very important for a man, neh? Oh, very yes.
Page 218.
“Everything to do with pillowing is normal” she said defiantly, prodded by his lack of manners and obvious imbecility, remembering that Toranaga had told her to be informative about nonpolitical things but to recount to him later all questions asked. Also, she was not to take any nonsense from him, for the Anjin was still a barbarian, a probably pirate, and under a formal death sentence which was presently held in abeyance at Toranaga’s pleasure.
Page 221.
How can anything that gives a human pleasure be sinful?
Page 222.
How can any man be angry for long with a woman if she openly admits she was wrong and he right?
Page 222.
Till quite recently we thought Chia was the only other civilized place on earth - except for Japan, neh? China is so immense it is like the world itself.
Page 235.
Everyone in Japan believed madness was caused only by a kami and thus madmen, like all young children and very old men, were not responsible and had special privileges, sometimes.
Page 238.
We’re a frugal people - we have to be, only so little of our land, perhaps a fifth of our soil, can be cultivated - and we’re many. With us it’s a virtue to be frugal, even in the amount of food we eat.
Page 241.
“Here it is not wise to notice another man’s woman,” she said. “Our customs are quite severe. For example, if a married woman is found alone with a man in a room with the door closed - just if they are alone and talking privately - by law her husband or his brother or his father has the right to put her to death instantly. If the girl is unmarried, the father can, of course, always do with her as he pleases.”
Page 243.
“There are far too many women, free and unattached, for a man to take one who gelongs elsewhere. It’s a protection for women, in truth. A wife’s duty is solely to her husband. Be patient. You’ll see how civilized, how advanced we are. Women have a place, men have a place. A man may have only one official wife at one time - but of course, many consorts - but women here have much more freedom than Spanish of Portuguese ladies. We may leave our husbands, if we wish, divorce them. We may refuse to marry in the first place, if we wish. We own our own wealth and property, our bodies and our spirits. We have tremendous powers if we wish.”
Page 243.
“Here the wife looks after everything. Money is nothing to a samurai. It’s beneath contempt to a real man. I manage all my husband’s affairs. He makes all the decisions. I merely carry out his wishes and pay his bills. This leaves him totally free to do his duty to his lord, which is his sole duty. Oh, yes, Anjin-san, you must be patient before you criticize.”
Page 243.
Lord Toranaga asked me to point out it’s unseemly to criticize without knowledge. You must remember our civilization, our culture, is thousands of years old.
Page 243.
I am Christian but first I am a Japanese.
Page 244.
For us duty is all important.
Page 244.
“Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for ‘love’ as I understand you to mean it. Duty, loyalty, honor, respect, desire, those words and thoughts are what we have, all that we need.”
Pages 244-245.
Men and women are equally samurai, warriors with responsibilities to their lords.
Page 245.
Wood and paper were their only building materials, except for tiles on some roofs. Every home, every warehouse, every hovel, and every palace was a tinderbox.
Pages 251-252.
There’s no difference between men and women. Women are equal as samurai.
Page 253.
All badly wounded samurai are murdered at once if they won’t or can’t kill themselves.
Page 257.
“A samurai cannot be captured and remain samurai. That’s the worst dishonor - to be captured by an enemy … A samurai dies with dignity. For what is life to a samurai? Nothing at all. All life is suffering, neh? It is his right and duty to die with honor, before witnesses.”
Page 260.
By custom another samurai always assisted at a seppuku, standing slightly behind the kneeling man, to decapitate him with a single stroke before the agony became unbearable and uncontrollable and so shamed the man at the supreme moment of his life. Unseconded, few men could die without shame.
Page 261.
I wish I could understand him, Toranaga thought. One moment so brave, the next so weak. One moment so valuable, the next so useless. One moment killer, the next coward. One moment docile, the next dangerous. He’s man and woman, Yang and Yin. He’s nothing but opposites, and unpredictable.
Page 263.
Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?
Page 264.
In war and in peace, a good enemy can be more valuable than a good ally.
Page 268.
It is so simple to catch a man, he told himself. All you need to know is the right bait.
Page 276.
Privacy in paper houses was impossible without politeness and consideration; without privacy civilized life could not exist, so all Japanese were trained to hear and not hear. For the good of all.
Page 287.
With thee, heresy has come to Eden.
Page 298.
Every year in this Land of the Gods we have earth tremors. And fires and flood and Great Waves, and the monster storms - the tai-funs. Nature is very strong with us.
Page 307.
A good soldier has but one master.
Page 312.
Toranaga was doing what he was born to do, what he had done a thousand times: controlling men with his will.
Page 317.
There was no real purpose to be gained in a show of emotion which all knew was unseemly and defacing.
Page 319.
How childish it is, she said to herself, to speak aloud what you think.
Page 324.
He’s given you a rare honor. Lord Toranaga has made you a hatamoto. This is the position of a special retainer of his personal staff. You have his absolute protection, Anjin-san. Lord Yabu, of course, acknowledges this.
Page 325.
A house will be provided for you. And teachers. You will please learn Japanese as quickly as possible.
Page 325.
He has given the village the honor and responsibility of teaching you. The village is responsible, Anjin-san. Everyone here is to help you. He told them that if you have not learned satisfactorily within six months, the village will he burnt, but before that, every man, woman, and child will be crucified.
Page 325.
Important matters were always to be handled by a third party in private. Thus dignity could always be maintained on both sides.
Page 328.
Mariko hesitated, distressed at Blackthorne’s impolite directness.
Page 329.
“Please be patient with us. In some things we are not free. Our customs are different from yours. You see, by law, we belong to our liege lord. By law a father possesses the lives of his children and wife and consorts and servants. By law his lie is possessed by his liege lord.”
Page 330.
True samurai are not permitted to kill themselves without their lord’s permission.
Page 330.
Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you’re here and nothing you can do will change that. Today you’re alive and here and honored, and blessed with good fortune. Look at this sunset, it’s beautiful, neh? This sunset exists. Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now.
Page 331.
Make yourself one with nature and do not worry about karma.
Page 331.
“It’s our custom that you cannot go into a daimyo’s presence with arms.”
Page 332.
“It’s the special privilege of a hatamoto to wear swords t all times, even in the presence of Lord Toranaga. It is his duty because he’s a completely trustworthy bodyguard. Also only a hatamoto has the right of immediate audience with a lord.”
Page 334.
“Whatever happens is karma. You must accept karma.”
Page 335.
Never join Japanese ferocity with modern weapons and modern methods. Or on land they will destroy us.
Page 337.
“Sorry I’m so slow,” he murmured.
“You mustn’t be sorry, Anjin-san. Tonight you’re reborn. This is another life, a new life,” Mariko said proudly, filled with honor for him. “It’s given to few to return. Do not be sorry. We know it takes great fortitude. Most men do not have enough strength left afterwards even to stand.”
Page 342.
“One battle - it’s the right battle - will give Toranaga total victory.”
Page 347.
Even peasant women tried to protect their faxes and their hands from the rays of the sun. from time immemorial, the darker the skin the more common the person; the whiter, the more prized.
Page 349.
“And the bath … is not merely for cleaning the skin. The bath is a gift to us from God or the gods, a god-bequeathed pleasure to be enjoyed and treated as such.”
Page 350.
“Japanese is very simple to speak compared with other languages. There are no articles, no ‘the,’ ‘a,’ or ‘an.’ No verb conjugations or infinitives. All verbs are regular, ending in masu, and you can say almost everything by using the present tense only, if you want. For a question just add ka after the verb. For a negative just change masu to masen.”
Page 350.
You’re thinking in your own language. To understand Japanese you have to think Japanese.
Page 350.
Some nights he walked the shore alone. Even though he insisted on being alone, he knew that he was followed and watched. Not because they were afraid he was trying to escape. Only because it was their custom for important people always to be attended. In Anjiro he was important.
Page 352.
Human manure and urine were the only substantial source of fertilizer in the Empire. There were few horses and bullocks, and no other animal sources at all. So every human particle was harbored and sold to the farmers throughout the land.
Page 353.
“A bath is truly the gift of God.”
Page 355.
It was a female custom to eat before or afterward so that all their attention could be devoted to the master.
Page 357.
“We must learn not to be ashamed of taking knowledge from wherever it comes.”
Page 360.
Blackthorne walked out to the veranda. He stepped into his thongs and nodded to his servants, who had been assembled in a neat line to bow him off, as was custom.
Page 365.
“A man never apologizes, even when he’s wrong.”
Page 367.
“It is our custom to make life simple. We admire simplicity, so men and women can take pillowing for what it is: an important part of lie, certainly, but between a man and a woman there are more vital things. Humility, for one. Respect. Duty.”
Page 369.
“You are here. This is your home.”
Page 369.
Only Toranaga and Ishido, copying him, insisted that their troops be uniformed and punctilious in their dress. All other daimyos considered such outward extravagance a foolish squandering of money, an unnecessary innovation.
Page 369.
Death was the lot o the vanquished, quick for the brave and shame-filled for the cowardly.
Page 370.
“We consider it very shameful and impolite to show strong feelings, particularly fear, so we hide them with a laugh or a smile.”
Page 376.
It was custom for sons of important samurai to have foster mothers so that the natural mother could attend to her husband and to the running of his house, leaving the foster mother to concentrate on the child’s upbringing, making him strong and a credit to the parents.
Page 383.
A master can do anything in his own house, within the law, unless it disturbs the neighbors. … it could be very bad to inconvenience neighbors. Inferiors never did anything to disturb their superiors. Otherwise heads would fall. That was why, throughout the land, samurai lived cautiously and courteously near samurai of equal rank if possible, peasants next to peasants, merchants in their own streets, and eta isolated outside.
Page 387.
Buntaro was not known for his manners and politeness form him was very dangerous.
Page 388.
It took all of Fujiko’s will to appear tranquil.
Page 389.
Even though Mariko was excellent, what she actually said was rarely exact. A long reply would always be shortened, some of what was spoken would, of course, be changed slightly, and misunderstandings occurred. So explanations had to be repeated.
Page 392.
While he was still out of pistol range, Buntaro bowed low, and so did the guard. Blackthorne stopped, sensing a trap. He looked all around but there was no one near. As though in a dream, he saw Buntaro sink heavily onto his knees, put his bow aside, his hands flat on the ground, and bow to him as a peasant would bow to his lord. The guard did likewise.
Page 403.
It must be because I’m hatamoto, and Buntaro, the guest, disturbed the wa, the harmony of my house. By having a violent open quarrel with his wife in my house, he insulted me, therefore he’s totally in the wrong and he has to apologize whether he means it or not. An apology’s obligatory from one samurai to another, from a guest to a host.
Page 404.
“Be patient, my son, everything comes with patience.”
Page 407.
Stupid to have two laws, one for us, one for them. There should be only one. There must be only one law.
Page 410.
“It’s vast to be alive,” he said happily. “I can almost hear the rain waiting go be born.”
Page 421.
Toronaga had always preferred experienced women, widows or divorced wives, but never too pretty or too wise or too young or too well-born, so never too much trouble and always grateful.
Page 421.
You must take the power to give power.
Page 423.
One of our most important rules is that the individual may never disturb the wa, the harmony of the group.
Page 427.
The whole world would fall to pieces if people were allowed to flout the law.
Page 428.
“Karma is the beginning of knowledge. Next is patience. Patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones, Anjin-san. Patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don’t give way to the seven, you’re patient, then you’ll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity.”
Page 431.
A garden must be settled around its rocks, that without them a garden is empty, merely a place of growing.
Page 434.
Kami are venerated, never worshiped. They exist between heaven and earth.
Page 434.
Best to leave barbarian ways to barbarians.
Page 441.
“Magic nights end too soon.”
Page 459.
“Who knows what happens on a magic night? Darkness contains everything.”
Page 459.
“It’s our custom always to try to prolong the moment of the ‘Clouds and the Rain’ because we believe for that brief instant we mortals are one with the gods.”
Page 460.
“Women don’t have the freedom men have - to a greater or lesser degree, and rightly, neh? The world belongs to men, and rightly, neh?”
Page 461.
“Wives are not for pleasure but for childbearing and for looking after the house and the home.”
Page 462.
“We’re taught to be ashamed of our bodies and pillowing and nakedness and … and all sorts of stupidities. It’s only being here that’s made me realize it. Now that I’m a little civilized I know better.”
Page 462.
So clean, he thought, everything’s so incredibly clean.
Page 465.
Heaven on earth is here.
Page 465.
“To be Japanese in Japan is wise.”
Page 477.
“Samurai do not war on their women, unless women war on them.”
Page 477.
God help me, I’m so mixed up. Part Eastern now, mostly Western. I’ve got to act like them and think like them to stay alive. And much of what they believe is so much better than our way that it’s tempting to want to become one of them totally, and yet … home is there, across the sea, where my ancestors were birthed, where my family lives.
Page 478.
And if we expel all barbarians it must take twenty years fort the English barbarian to fill up the gap.
Page 508.
Any number of invading barbarians and their priests are no threat against our overwhelming joint forces. We smashed the hordes of Kublai Khan and we can deal with any invader. But allied to one of our own, a great Christian daimyo with armies of samurai, and given civil wars throughout the realm, this could, ultimately, give this one daimyo absolute power over all of us.
Page 508.
All was ready. The first perfection of the cha-no-yu was cleanliness, the second, complete simplicity. The last and greatest, suitability to the particular guest or guests.
Page 512.
“I love thee, so I’m afraid for thee,” she whispered, holding onto him, using Latin, the language of lovers.
Page 527.
Knowledge belongs to God. Not to man. I’d like to help you as a gift - nothing in return.
Page 529.
Wait till we get nearer Yedo. We adore to travel, Anjin-san, but rarely alone. We like to travel in groups.
Page 533.
Unless the common people respect the samurai and themselves, how can the law be upheld and the realm be governed? … Everyone must be polite, neh? Lesser daimyos have to dismount and bow to more important ones. Ritual governs our lives, but the realm is obedient.
Page 533.
“There are tines when we need a woman’s cold, cruel, vicious cunning, practical wisdom. They’re so much cleverer than we are.”
Page 536.
Without discipline any ship was lost.
Page 543.
“Rice gives us food to eat, Anjin-san, tatamis to sleep on, sandals to walk with, clothes to shut out the rain and the cold, thatch to keep our houses warm, paper for writing. Without rice we cannot exist.”
Page 557.
“Barbarians cause nothing but trouble. Christians cause nothing but trouble.”
Page 561.
The farther from the castle, the meaner were the roads, the poorer the dwellings.
Page 572.
Yedo was a sprawling mass which seemed to him to be made up of hamlets separated merely by roads or streams.
Page 572.
A lifetime wish was a favor that, by ancient custom, a wife might ask of her husband, or a son of a father - and occasionally a husband of a wife - without loss of face, on the condition that if the wish was granted, the person agreed never again to ask another favor in this life. By custom, no questions about the favor might be asked, nor was it ever to be mentioned again.
Page 588.
The ocean beckoned him. It was the horizon more than the deep the need for a fair wind washing him, eyes squinting against its strength, tongue tasting its salt, the deck heeled over, and aloft the spars and rigging and halyards creaking and groaning under the press of sails that, from time to time, would cackle with glee as the stalwart breeze shifted a point or two.
And it was freedom more than the horizon. Freedom to go to any quarter in any weather at any whim. To stand on his quarterdeck and to be arbiter, as here Toranaga alone was arbiter.
Page 596.
“If you want peace you must learn to drink cha form an empty cup.”
Page 598.
Inevitably the same thoughts kept chasing each other: I want to leave, I want to stay. I’m afraid of going back, I’m afraid to remain. I hate both and want both.
Page 599.
“A victor never commits treason.”
Page 600.
“Men need to whisper secrets, Lady. T hat’s what makes t hem different form us - they need to share secrets, but we women only reveal them to gain an advantage. …. Yes. Men need to share secrets. That’s why we’re superior the them and they’ll always be in our power.”
Page 622.
“Hate comes from fear. I do not fear you. You need not fear me.”
Page 625.
“Men foolishly think more about this world than the nest. They won’t open their eyes. They sell their souls all too easily.”
Page 627.
“Everyone is worthy in the sight of God.”
Page 631.
“How tiresome men are, they need everything explained in such detail.”
Page 660.
Only knowledge can protect us from barbarians.
Page 667.
“If I were alone with thee I would kiss thee until they crises for mercy filled the universe.”
Page 671.
Custom decreed a sword should not be totally drawn unless it was to be used.
Page 673.
There’s no defense against an assassin if the assassin is prepared to die.
Page 675.
“It seems Christians interfere only wen it suits them,” Ishido said.
Page 686.
“Many women marry men who disgust them.”
Page 688.
Ninja were mercenaries. Thy were artists in stealth, specialists in the disreputable - in espionage, infiltration, and sudden death.
Page 698.
Ishido had use the request for him to fetch the safe conducts merely as a ruse so the secret offer could be made safely and negotiated.
Page 701.
To ninja, violent death for pay was their only purpose in life.
Page 705.
“You are a worthy samurai. And you have a quality that’s rare here: unpredictability. The Taiko had it, Toranaga-sama has it too.”
Page 740.
The Court possessed no revenue of its own. Only samurai possessed revenue and for hundred of years, the Court had had to exist on a stipend - always carefully controlled and lean - granted it by the Shogun, Kwampaku, or ruling Junta of the day.
Page 753.
Only once in three centuries had a ruling Emperor ever left his sanctuary at Kyoto.
Page 753.
Toranaga listened in silence, never interrupting the flow, just adding cautious encouragement when needed, the perfect listener.
Page 766.
“Men are born in sin, most stay in sin though they’re Christians.”
Page 767.
“With patience everything changes. Soon the Anjin-san will know more of our ways and his household will also have wa.”
Page 782.
That’s what makes us unique on earth, he thought with satisfaction. A bargain with death is a bargain that is sanctified.
Page 783.
Curious, Toranaga thought, how women can change like chameleons - one moment ugly, the next attractive, sometimes even beautiful, though in reality they’re not.
Page 783.
“Virtuous men throughout history have always decried bawdy houses and Pillow Places, but men aren’t virtuous and if a leader outlaws houses and pillowing he’s a fool because greater evils will soon erupt like a plague of boils.”
Page 784.
Generally there’s good in evil people and evil in good people. You must choose the good and get rid of the evil without sacrificing the good.
Pages 787-788.
“Patience means restraining yourself. There are seen emotions, neh? Joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate. If a man doesn’t give way to these, he’s patient. I’m not as strong as I might be but I’m patient.”
Page 788.
Great talent merits sacrifice.
Page 788.
Put aside your sadness. Life is all sadness.
Page 788.
How sensible we Japanese are to know that a child is not a proper child until thirty days after birth when its spirit is firmly fixed in its body and its karma inexorable.
Page 789.
Don’t lie to yourself, that’s fatal.
Page 793.
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 t do that. Why? This is a day for truth, neh? The answer is because you make me laugh and I need a friend. I daren’t make friends among my own people, or among the Portuguese.
Page 799.
Everything’s right if you win.
Page 799.
Only time fashions nares and provides lures.
Page 800.
Anjin-san, my friend, it is your karma never to leave this land. It is mine to be Shogun. … I did not choose to be what I am. It is my karma.
Page 802.