Shōgun

Just as the traveling party assembles in the forecourt, Toranaga's chief rival, Ishido, unexpectedly arrives. Suspicious of Toranaga, Ishido uses his position as Lord of Osaka Castle to inspect the party and force them to take an escort of his samurai.&nbsp;In the middle of this confusion, Mariko and Blackthorne realize that this whole mission is an excuse for Toranaga to slip away when they see him stealthily change places with his wife, Kiri. They are in the middle of a daring escape.As they travel, Yabushige assures Ishido's general, Jozen, that he is still loyal to their cause, though it is unclear where his true allegiance lies.

<figure class="table" style="width:89.5%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:6.18%;"><col style="width:93.82%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="width:50px;">&nbsp;</td><td>INSIDE THE EPISODE:&nbsp;Yabushige’s Will, Kao, Samurai Code of Conduct<a href="#historyyabushige">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

When the group is finally about to exit the castle, they face yet another security check. Knowing that Toranaga is hiding inside Kiri's palanquin, Blackthorne quickly creates a distraction, saving Toranaga from discovery.As the party continues their journey out of Osaka, they walk right into a trap laid by Kiyama's Christian samurai. Eager to eliminate Blackthorne, Kiyama has his men pose as bandits and ambush the party. In the ensuing fight, Toranaga's presence is revealed, and Ishido's men join the attack, attempting to apprehend Toranaga.

During the bloody battle, Mariko's husband, Buntaro, sacrifices himself, allowing the group to escape to the sea. However, their safety doesn't last long as even more Christian samurai block the harbor.Thinking fast, Blackthorne convinces Toranaga to navigate to the Black Ship, a vessel large enough to break through the blockade. Toranaga negotiates with the hot-headed Captain Ferriera and the priests for safe passage and political help swaying the Christian lords to his side.&nbsp;In exchange, Toranaga must invest in the Portuguese trade and approve the construction of a church in his new city of Edo. Just as the deal is about to be struck, the priests demand Toranaga leave Blackthorne behind, supplying him with proof of Blackthorne's piracy. Toranaga reluctantly decides to abandon Blackthorne and escape on the Black Ship.

<figure class="table" style="width:89.5%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:6.18%;"><col style="width:93.82%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="width:50px;">&nbsp;</td><td>INSIDE THE EPISODE:&nbsp;Palanquins, The Route Through Osaka Forest, Female Warriors<a href="#historypalanquins">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

Not content to fall into enemy hands, Blackthorne races Toranaga’s galley alongside the Black Ship and narrowly manages to break through the barricade, allowing Toranaga and company to reboard their ship.&nbsp;

In Osaka Castle, a furious Ishido gathers the Council of Regents to discuss impeaching Toranaga after his daring escape. Just as they are about to vote, Hiromatsu arrives with a surprising message: Toranaga has resigned. And without five members, they cannot take any action. The Council is hamstrung.

On the galley, Toranaga awards Blackthorne the title of hatamoto for his heroic actions and asks for his help training an army in Western tactics. The departure from Osaka promises Toranaga freedom, but for Mariko and Blackthorne, who have seen each other’s true hearts in the heat of battle, it is the beginning of a powerful and doomed romance.

<figure class="table" style="width:89.5%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:6.18%;"><col style="width:93.82%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="width:50px;">&nbsp;</td><td>INSIDE THE EPISODE:&nbsp;Toranaga’s Escape, Toranaga’s Resignation Letter, Hatamoto<a href="#historytoranagaescape">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

Yabushige's Will

Episode 2 begins with Yabushige writing his will. Bushōs (warlords) wrote wills when they were ready to die in battle, or when they fell ill and thought their end was near. These wills were important because the continuation of the clan in the turbulent times of incessant warfare was one of the most pressing issues for the lords. One wrong move and the clan or fiefdom could collapse. Therefore, these wills were meant to prepare their children to maintain the power of the lord's clan.Some wills would provide detailed instructions to follow, while others would give only vague general instructions. In the show, we used Uesugi Kenshin's will as a model for the calligraphy of Yabushige's will. &nbsp; Uesugi Kenshin ruled over Echigo and was called "the Dragon of Echigo" and "the God of War" because of his extraordinary military exploits. Due to his Buddhist beliefs, he never married and remained childless. He did, however, adopt four sons. Uesugi's will is not a will in the strict sense of the word. In fact, it is composed of two death poems, and it reads as follows:&nbsp;The glory of life is like one cup of sake.&nbsp;&nbsp;Forty-nine years of life is only as long as a brief slumber.&nbsp;&nbsp;Knowing nothing of life or death,&nbsp;&nbsp;The years are like being in a dream.&nbsp;&nbsp;I do not know whether I am going to paradise or hell.&nbsp;&nbsp;My mind is as cloudless as the bright moon. &nbsp;&nbsp;Because Uesugi left only these poems to his adopted sons, and didn't give any other instructions, the clan was divided after his death, and its power was greatly diminished. In a way, Uesugi's will fits Yabushige's character well, instead of writing a traditional will, he wrote his reflections on life.

The bushōs signed their wills and letters with a signature called a kaō. A kaō is a symbol or sign used in place of a signature. Each kaō is different and shows unique characteristics of the signer. Kaōs are distinguished from signatures by shapes that cannot be considered letters or ideograms. The kanji for kaō 花押 literally means "flower imprint" and is so named because of its resemblance to a floral patternKaōs were widely used by bushōs and samurais. Their signatures were needed to authenticate their documents, important in a time of war and betrayal. A special feature of the bushō signature was that the bushō would write his real name above the kaō. Most letters were not written by the bushō himself, but by his scribe or koshō. The bushō would write only his own name and the kaō.

Samurai Code of Conduct

The samurai code of conduct was necessary in an age of warfare. Samurai were belligerent types who would cut each other down over trivial matters. This would almost certainly lead to endless vendettas, as samurai would have to avenge the death of their relatives.&nbsp;To prevent such situations, strict customary laws had developed. For example, the Kenka ryōseibai law stipulated that both parties to a quarrel, whether justified or not, would be equally punished by execution. As unjust as this law sounds, it was necessary to prevent further bloodshed.In the same way, various rules were created to prevent armed fights. Many of these rules had to do with the swords the samurai carried. The samurai usually had two swords with them, a long one (katana) and a short one (wakizashi).&nbsp;When a samurai visited other samurai residences or his lord's palace, there was an antechamber or sword room next to the entrance, and it was customary for visitors to leave their swords on the sword rack there and enter the room with only their wakizashi. They might also give their sword to a retainer or koshō who would be waiting outside. This way they showed that they hadn't come to fight. &nbsp;&nbsp;In the palace the only person to have his sword with him was the lord himself and the sword was usually held by one of his koshōs. This custom was not only to protect the lord from attack. It also meant that the lord was the only one in the room with the power of life and death.

Palanquins

A "norimono" was a vehicle consisting of a wooden box with a sliding door and lattice windows suspended from a pole and carried from front to back on the shoulders of several palanquin bearers. Lower classes were forbidden from riding in norimonos.The norimono for high-class women were particularly magnificent. &nbsp;They were finished in black lacquer and decorated with family crests and arabesque patterns in gold powder and other decorative arts. &nbsp;The interior was also lavishly decorated with paintings of flowers, birds, pine trees, and other motifs. &nbsp;When such a norimono passed by, accompanied by many samurai, people knew they had to crouch down and pay their respects.

The Route Through Osaka Forest

When people traveled from Osaka Castle to Edo, they usually left Osaka Castle through the Kyobashi Gate and then took a small boat up the Yodo River to Kyoto, where they traveled by road. In the show, however, Kiri's party intended to go to the harbor of Osaka, where they would board Toranaga's galley to sail along the south coast of Japan to Edo.&nbsp;First, they traveled through a forest. There was no forest between the castle and the city, but to stay close to Clavell's novel, this element was retained in the show. There were belts of forest to the north and east of Osaka Castle, so the idea was that a route through those forests would get them to the harbor more quickly than through the narrow, busy streets of Osaka City.

Female Warriors

Not only men of the samurai class fought in battle. In the Sengoku period, there are examples of women fighting alongside men, especially when defending a castle from an enemy attack. They were called "onna-musha" (female warriors).&nbsp;Although there are few records of the deeds of these onna-musha, their lives are told in numerous legends. Famous legends include that of Tomoe Gozen, who assisted the warlord Minamoto no Yoshinaka in his battles. Some women even became the lord of a castle ("onna-jōshu" or female castellan) in the absence of their husbands, such as the legendary Ii Naotora, who prevented the downfall of the Ii clan by becoming their leader.The weapon of choice for the onna-musha was the naginata, a pole weapon with a curved blade at the top. It was easier for women to wield than spears or swords. They could keep some distance from the enemy and gravity helped them swing the naginata down, reducing their disadvantage in physical strength.

Toranaga's Escape

Toranaga's escape from Osaka Castle was most likely inspired by the escape of Toranaga's counterpart, Tokugawa Ieyasu, after the Honnōji incident, in which Akechi Mitsuhide killed Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto. At that time, Ieyasu was in Sakai. He crossed the mountains of Iga, pursued by Akechi's allies, and boarded a ship that took him to his fief in Mikawa. Anayama Nobutada, a warlord who was Ieyasu's companion, was killed during the flight. It is said that Ieyasu escaped with the help of shinobi.

Toranaga's Resignation Letter

During the Sengoku period, samurai wrote official letters in a standardized way. These letters were generally much shorter than Western letters of the same period. They conveyed their message in simple, straightforward terms, using standardized sentences. In Shōgun, we have composed all letters in medieval Japanese according to these standardized rules. For example, Toranaga's resignation letter has the following text:覚 大老之儀病身ニ罷成相勤兼申候付辞退申候て何事も存間敷候 以上 十月二十五日　虎永　（花押）The meaning of this text is as follows: &nbsp;Memorandum Regarding the position of Regent, I am unable to fulfill the position due to illness and therefore resign. Everything I have written is the truth. That is all. The 25th day of the tenth month, Toranaga (kaō). &nbsp;Note that the samurai only wrote the month and date and not the year. Illness was often used as an excuse.

Hatamoto

In addition to vassals and allies, the warlord had his own army made up of close relatives, samurai, ashigaru, and support personnel. The hatamoto were the samurai closest to their lord in battle. Therefore, they were called hatamoto (lit. "near the banner" or "under the banner"), meaning that they stood near the banner of their lord.&nbsp;The Hatamoto received rice crops, but they did not have independent large fiefs like the vassals. They basically served Ieyasu directly. They also differed from the other samurai who served the warlord directly (called gokenin) in that they were allowed a direct audience with the warlord.Blackthorne's historical counterpart, William Adams, also became a Hatamoto, receiving a domain in Hemi (now Yokosuka City) on the Miura Peninsula. Because of the name of this place, Adams is now known as "Miura Anjin" in Japan. A hatamoto with a large fief would have more than 100 samurai, koshos and ashigaru under him. A Hatamoto with a smaller fief would have many fewer. Adams apparently didn't have any samurai serving him, although he did have several servants and about 80 to 90 families serving him.

A great escape.&nbsp;Host Emily Yoshida and guests break down episode 3 of FX’s Shōgun. Featuring showrunner Justin Marks, actor Nestor Carbonell "Rodrigues," stunt coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-Del Valle and production designer Helen Jarvis. Listen in as Yoshida and guests explore the skills required to be a great samurai, how to drown on camera, and what it takes to build 16th century ships.