“So let the Gai-jin [foreign persons] bear the consequences of their act: they forced their way onto our shores against our wishes and have the Yokohama foothold. With the men we have now, and a surprise attack by night, we could obliterate the settlement ad burn the surrounding villages easily. We could do it tonight and solve the problem permanently.” – Katsumata (p.38)
Kamakazi missions and brutal murders abound, predominantly on the side of the Japanese, in this, the third installment of the great Shogun saga by author James Clavell which speculates in a fictional stroke of genius on the birth of modern Japan. A series of suicide attacks by religious fanatic shishi warriors, disorganization on the side of the European settlement of Yokohama, and boneheaded decisions made by the Shogunate law of the land (led by sixteen year old warlord Nobusada and his wife) keep the Gai-jin interesting and ever shocking.
In respect to the Japanese, the story generally concentrates of the goings on of Daimyo Lord and Shogun handler Yoshi Toronaga, and his polar opposite, shishi leader and internationally wanted criminal Katsumata. The details of their conflict makes the story that much more enticing and easier to immerse oneself in. Though both men want the same ends they use two very different means to reach it, Yoshi uses treachery and his own enemies to twist the will of those around him to his way of thinking, and Katsumata utilizes murder and suicide through the sacrifices of his loyal lot of ronin samurai called shishi. The tremendous game of cat and mouse played out on a grand scale between these two is nothing if not impressive, in one particular instance Katsumata is forced to flee a Yoshi instigated raid by crawling through a secret passage in the floor to safety with only two other surviving shishi. In retaliation to the raid Katsumata uses Yoshi’s own “pillow woman” to make a near fatal attempt on his life.
For the European settlement of Yokohama, attempts on one’s life were not too common but the seriousness of one wounded man would send them into a flurry over the infectivity of Japanese judicial systems for the rest of the novel. Malcolm Straun, Tai-Pan of Straun’s trading company called the Noble House, and his soon to be French fiancée, Angelique Richaud, after being attacked on the road just outside the settlement, nearly caused a war between England and Japan on Japanese soil. There being no Japanese-English dictionaries in existence, the language barrier as well as the unwillingness of the Japanese officials to help, kept the Europeans from hearing about shishi and that it was these rogues who had sworn to kill Gai-jin and caused the mortal wound to Straun who, as is constantly stressed, had already caused the eminent downfall of his own family business by letting emotions guide him rather than his head. Though the characters of Malcolm and Angelique, as well as a few minor players, could seriously be interpreted as whiney and juvenile their stark contrast to the serious natures of the Japanese officials is commendable and gives the story a level of dimension that many others just don’t have.
With every element to Gai-jin aforementioned standing alone this would be a good book, but throw in the conflict between a mother and her rebellious son, a son in search of revenge on his estranged father, and the brutal feelings exchanged between two rival churches and the book becomes great. Luckily, Gai-jin has these details as well. The conflict between Tess Straun and her son, the new Tai-pan, Malcolm Straun concerning who he wishes to marry is relatable to teenagers now as well as the time period which the book was meant to portray. In adition to not liking her unavoidable daughter-in-law it is apparent from minute details that Malcolm’s mother is Protestant, while the French Angelique is a fervent Catholic. In regard to the estranged son, Gornt, and his father, Morgan Brock, (who just so happens to be the proprietor of Straun’s trading rival) their story of love and rejection is a definite clincher and essential to the success of the saga seeing as how Gornt uses his superior knowledge of gambling to bet his own life and the lives of others in order to get closer to his goal to “destroy Morgan Brock!”
Gai-jin as well as the six other installments should be read in schools, in my opinion, if not for the slight historical value for its value as a classic of American literature. Even though a higher vocabulary or ownership of a good dictionary is required to read this book it is worth the time and effort even for those who may not usually like books that are over one thousand pages. This book is impossible to put down, even during the sections of dryer material there is something going on that makes one say “hm, that’s interesting.” One instance being during a small tangent in in the floating world or red light district when one of the pillow girls is recounting her past; she recalls that her late husband was a great grandson of the first Portuguese on Japanese soil, the sailor Anjin and protagonist of the original novel Shogun. Gai-jin as well as its sister novels are an absolute treasure which I would recommend to anyone who has eyes to read with or ears with which to hear an audiobook, and the storytelling of Clavell to be revered.