Quote Originally Posted by haukehaien View Post
I have a question about Clavell's novel - I know it's fiction and doesn't represent actual events, but how does his description of 17c Japanese culture stack up? In other words, is the world of Shogun very like the actual Japan of the time, wildly different, or somewhere in between? I love history, but know very little of the history and historical culture of that part of the world.
It's regarded as totally off base in Japan, as is every such novel written by Westerners that I've ever discussed with them. I rather think that 'mild contempt' might be close to the mark. It's like writing about something you know nothing about- only worse because you don't know that you don't know. In particular, Shogun really messed up the relationship between samurai and their leaders and it was for instance never, ever considered for airing in Japan, I mean of course the TV series based on the novel.