Shōgun

At their wit's end, her guardians ask a Jesuit priest, a young Alvito, for help. Alvito comforts a catatonic Mariko, handing her a crucifix — something to hold on to when she has no words. With his kindness and this small gesture, we see the introduction of Christianity into Mariko's life.

In the present day, Yabushige, Blackthorne, and Mariko arrive in Osaka. Despite their plan to ally with Ishido, both men are wary of Mariko's hidden agenda. Tension rises as they journey inside the castle — the full severity of the hostage situation becoming clear.

The following morning, Ferriera, Alvito, and Dell'Acqua debate what Mariko and Blackthorne's arrival in Osaka could mean, still suspicious of Toranaga's intentions.&nbsp;Yabushige and Blackthorne arrive at the Ceremonial Meeting Hall, intent to pledge their loyalty to Ishido, but they're met with a hostile reception. Kiyama threatens Blackthorne, hoping to drive the rival Christian out of Japan, and Ishido quickly rejects Yabushige's offer.

Mariko arrives for an audience, seeing her lost childhood friend Ochiba for the first time in over a decade. But the pleasantries soon end when Mariko takes a defiant stand. Toranaga has ordered her to leave Osaka and escort Toranaga's ladies home to Edo. It's an open challenge of the hostage situation that ignites chaos, but Mariko does not back down.

<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;Midono, Hokku<a href="#historymidono">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

In the aftermath of her dangerous proclamation, Yabushige and Blackthorne confront Mariko — her secret plan has placed them all in danger. Her son, Ryûji, soon follows. Sent by Kiyama to diffuse her act of defiance, he expresses his shame in being a part of her family.

Despite these protests, Mariko leads her party out of Osaka Castle. As her men approach the first gate, they are immediately stopped and surrounded by Ishido’s samurai. Impossibly outnumbered, Mariko declares it her duty to obey Toranaga and orders Ishido’s men cut down.&nbsp;The resulting massacre kills almost her entire party, and Mariko takes up arms to fight back. Before she can be captured, she declares that she has been prevented from doing her duty and must commit seppuku at sunset, imploring Kiyama to be her second.

Following Mariko’s attempted escape, the Regents are in a stalemate. If they let Mariko go, they must release all the hostages and lose their advantage over Toranaga, and if she dies, they face a disastrous diplomatic crisis. The Christian Regents argue that she will never commit the sin of suicide, but Ochiba assures them that Mariko is intent on her revenge.

Ochiba summons Mariko to a private meeting under the guise of an audience between Blackthorne and the Heir. The two friends stand on opposite sides of a war, unable to sway the other to their side. Following the tense meeting, a desperate Blackthorne begs Mariko to reconsider her death, but still, she does not waver.&nbsp;As tensions rise throughout Osaka, Yabushige receives a cryptic message from Ishido. His offer of loyalty has been accepted... under one condition.

Mariko makes her last confession to Alvito and arrives at a somber chamber for her suicide. Under advisement from the other Regents, Kiyama refuses to second her. Realizing he is about to lose the woman he loves, Blackthorne sees the futility of his protest and offers to be Mariko’s second. But right before she can make the fatal cut — Ishido charges in, granting her and the other hostages permission to leave.

<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;Mariko’s Battle, Women’s Ritual Suicide, The Release of the Hostages<a href="#historymariko">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

The West Palace erupts in celebration, and Mariko and Blackthorne have an emotional reunion. Above the revelry, Yabushige is on a dark mission. Killing samurai guards, he allows a group of shinobi to breach the castle walls. The assassins spread through the castle like an infestation, silently killing samurai and searching for Mariko.

The shinobi find their target, but not anticipating Blackthorne’s presence, the skilled assassins are caught off guard, and the couple escapes. Joining Kiri, Shizu, and Yabushige, they rush to a fortified storehouse, locking themselves inside. When the shinobi close in and set explosives on the door, Mariko acts fast. She presses herself against the door and declares that her death is an act of protest, just as it explodes.

<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;The Shinobi Attack<a href="#historyshinobiattack">LEARN MORE </a>&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">Midono 味土野</h5>This episode begins with a pregnant Mariko exiled in the snowy mountains of Shōnai. Her historical model, Akechi Tama (Hosokawa Gracia), was forced to hide for two years in a place called Midono in the mountains of Tango Province north of Kyoto. After the Honnōji incident, in which her father killed his lord, Oda Nobunaga (Kuroda Nobuhisa in Shōgun), her husband, Hosokawa Tadaoki (Buntaro in Shōgun), confined her there to protect her from the revenge of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the Taikō), who had killed her father and her family.Midono was a small village 1200 feet above sea level in a sparsely populated area. Tama was said to be confined on flat area of the hill of about 200 square feet. This hill is called Mejiro ("Women's Castle"). Across a small valley to the north is a place called Ojiro ("Men's Castle"). This was probably the place where the samurai who guarded it stayed. In winter, this place gets a lot of snow, which accumulates to six feet or more.Overnight, Tama had become the daughter of a traitor. Tadaoki's deep love for her prevented him from killing her, and he decided to hide her. Tama was taken deep into the mountains, separated from her three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.&nbsp;In captivity, she gave birth to her third child, Okiaki (Ryūji in Shōgun). A poem she wrote in Midono has been preserved. It reads as follows: "I wish there were a visionary who could visit you, even through someone else, so that I could know where you are." In this poem you can feel her deep loneliness.&nbsp;Tama spent two years in this harsh natural environment before she was allowed to remarry Tadaoki and move to the Hosokawa mansion in Osaka. A few years later, Tama was baptized. Her despair in Midono was probably one of the reasons she sought healing in the Catholic faith.

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">Hokku 発句</h5>When Ochiba spoke of a poetry competition in Daiyoin's memory, she asked Mariko to choose the first line. Linked verse parties, or rengakai, were very popular among the samurai class. Several poets would participate in the game. They would take turns composing stanzas until they reached 100 stanzas.&nbsp;The first stanza, called hokku, was very important because it set the theme of the party. It was usually one of the guests who had the honor of composing the first stanza. The host would respond with the second stanza, and then the other guests would compose their stanzas in turn.&nbsp;The first poet had to be very skillful because the hokku had to be of such a quality that it would stand out enough to lead the series of 100 stanzas. She also had to include seasonal words and a punctuation word so that the stanza could stand on its own as an independent poem. Mariko's answer was the following hokku.&nbsp;雪ながら yuki nagara夕べに霞む yūbe ni kasumu枯れ枝かな kare-e kanaWhile the snow remainsVeiled in the haze of cold eveningA leafless branch&nbsp;Mariko's lines contain all the necessary requirements for a hokku. She expresses that there is still some snow left on the mountains while using the word "haze," which is strongly associated with early spring.&nbsp;Here, she demonstrates her deep knowledge of classical poetry by alluding to the concept of "the coming of spring while snow remains," which can be found, for example, in the Shin Kokin Wakashū ("New Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems"), an imperial anthology of Japanese waka poems compiled in 1203. She also uses the punctuation word kana correctly, which makes the stanza a poem in its own right.Then, unexpectedly, she brings up the word "leafless branch," which Yabushige criticizes because the word kare-e, or leafless branch, is usually used in poems describing fall or winter. The line alludes to Mariko’s dark intentions.

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">Mariko's Battle 奮闘</h5>Although this scene, in which Mariko goes forward and one after the other of her samurai is slain, would seem unreal to modern people, there were a lot of colorful characters in the Sengoku period who would perform such reckless feats. For example, the famous nokikuchi ("fighting retreat") of the warlord Shimazu Yoshihiro comes to mind.&nbsp;At the Battle of Sekigahara, Yoshihiro made a frontal attack on the much larger enemy forces in order to create a hole in the enemy ranks through which he could escape. To protect their master, his samurai acted as human shields and were slain one by one while Yoshihiro made his way through the enemy's army.&nbsp;In this way, Yoshihiro was able to escape by cutting through the middle of the enemy forces. Of the 300 samurai in his corps, only 80 survived the battle. In Mariko's case however, there are just too many to get through.

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">Women's Ritual Suicide 自害</h5>Samurai women always carried a kaiken (small dagger) to commit suicide whenever necessary. Men of the samurai class would commit seppuku, cutting their bellies before the kaishakunin (the second person who assists the person committing seppuku) cut their necks. A woman, on the other hand, brought her kaiken to her chest, pointed at her heart, and fell on it.&nbsp;If by chance she didn't die from stabbing her heart in this way, she would then cut her neck below the left ear, where the external carotid artery is located. Sometimes a kaishakunin would help her by killing her directly or by cutting her neck if she failed to kill herself. This kaishakunin was usually a close relative or a chief vassal. Before committing suicide, the woman tied a string around her legs to prevent them from opening. Women, like men, wrote a death poem before the ritual began.As a Christian, Mariko would burn in hell if she committed suicide, as it was considered a mortal sin in the Catholic Church. Her historical model, Akechi Tama (Hosokawa Gracia), faced the same problem when she had to commit suicide to avoid falling into the hands of Ishida Mitsunari (Ishido in Shōgun). They both decided to be killed by a kaishakunin. Mariko would only cut her breast slightly as a symbolic gesture, but her actual death would have to be caused by the kaishakunin's sword.

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">The Release of the Hostages 人質</h5>When Ishida Mitsunari (Ishido in Shōgun) rebelled against Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga in Shōgun) in 1600, he ordered the wives of the warlords living in Osaka to be taken hostage. The first person he sent his troops after was Mariko's historical model, Akechi Tama (Hosokawa Gracia). Tama refused and committed suicide. Her death was a great shock to the samurai families of Osaka. The hostage policy continued, but was relaxed somewhat, forcing Mitsunari to abandon his heavy-handed approach.In a letter to his friend and ally Sanada Masayuki, Mitsunari tried to explain that he was not to blame. He wrote: "I ordered to take Tadaoki's wife and child as hostages, but the samurai at the Hosokawa family's Osaka residence mistakenly believed that they should commit suicide, stabbed her to death, set fire to the house, and killed themselves." In this way, he claimed that Tama's death was the result of a misunderstanding. However, the political damage was done and Ishida's hostage-taking policy became a complete failure.

<h5 class="ckHeading5">&nbsp;</h5><h5 class="ckHeading5">The Shinobi Attack 忍び</h5>Shinobi were used for several purposes. &nbsp;The most important was to gather information about the enemy. &nbsp;In the Vocabulario da lingoa de Iapam, a Japanese-Portuguese dictionary compiled in 1603, "Xinobi" is explained as: "A spy who sneaks into a castle or camp at night or in secret to spy on the situation."The True Records of the Joseon Dynasty, a Korean compilation of 1512, states that “the shinobi of Hakata (now Fukuoka), a distant and unknown land, often change their appearance, and when they enter the camp they resemble rats, and when they leave the camp they resemble crows, and their aberrant actions have no limits. &nbsp;Even when many guards are posted, they go unnoticed."But it was not only for espionage that the shinobi were used. &nbsp;In 1541, during the siege of Kasagi Castle, shinobi were used to infiltrate the castle and set it on fire. &nbsp;That groups of shinobi were often used to set fire to enemy castles can be seen in several documents of the time. Sometimes these groups could be large enough to take over a small castle. &nbsp;They were especially trained for night attacks when the enemy was least alert.&nbsp;In addition to taking over castles, the shinobi were also used to assassinate enemy generals and samurai. &nbsp;In the diary of the warlord Date Masamune, written in 1587-1590 by one of his close aides, we find several references to the use of shinobi to capture enemy samurai alive or bring back their heads. In this light, the shinobi in episode 9 were doing what they did best.

A torn heart in a torn land.&nbsp;Host Emily Yoshida and guests break down episode 9 of FX’s Shōgun. Featuring executive producer and co-creator Rachel Kondo, actor Anna Sawai "Mariko," producer &amp; writer Caillin Puente, and director Fred Toye. Join them as they examine Mariko's relationship with the church, the Shinobi assassins, and Anna Sawai's feelings about that passionate scene at the gate.

Episode 9 - Crimson Sky

In war and in peace, a good enemy can be more valuable than a good ally.

Gestures & Movement

Uncover the breathtaking world that hundreds of craftspeople painstakingly bring to life episode by episode.

An Unwavering Way of Life.

Watch all episodes on Hulu.

Get the latest news and exclusives from FX including show premieres and more.

Mariko arrives in Osaka for the fight of her life. Blackthorne and Yabushige scramble to save their own heads as their options dwindle.

Mariko dressed in a white uchikake over a dark red kosode sits in the center of the Osaka Castle meeting room

Episode 9: Crimson Sky | FX Shōgun Episode Guide

On a Leafless Branch

INSIDE THE EPISODE

Episode 9 - Crimson Sky

Discover the warriors from Crimson Sky

Toranaga

Blackthorne

Mariko

Yabushige

Omi

Ishido

Hiromatsu

Nagakado

Explore scenes from Crimson Sky

An Unwavering Way of Life.

More Shōgun awaits