Shogun — A Kenshibu between the USD and the URB
A Review from the EUM Lens
Introduction
The Shogun Series is a beautifully crafted television series and has been hypnotic at several levels. If the strikingly animated series of the Blue Eye Samurai caught your attention or if you were reasonably touched by the Last Samurai (and despite the irritation of watching Tom Cruise playing the white man as the savior of the Samurai tradition), you must watch this narrative over ten episodes.
In 2024, the series became the first Japanese-language series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Drama Series and has earned 25 Emmy nominations. It is also the second non-English-language series to be nominated as such, with the Korean-language Squid Game being first.
Based on the book of James Clavell, the fictional series chooses neither to romanticize the era of military leaders and the samurai culture of Japan between the 12th and 19th century, nor take a politically correct stance between western culture (as seen through the eyes of the Englishman — a character — John Blackthorne) and the Japanese ideology of looking at life. While the book — Shogun by Clavell is fiction — it does look to be based on the historical English navigator — William Adams who rose to become a Samurai under Tokugawa Leyasu who later became the first Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate
For the EUM practitioners, the series is a poetic enquiry into the visceral violence and the calm that accompanies the interplay of two key universes — that of Strength & Desire (USD) and of Roles & Boundaries (URB). The series retains its sharp focus on the dramatic intensity of how the two universes collide in us and how we seek to retain a sense of balance amidst the chaos that threatens to engulf us. For those who prefer Spiral Dynamics opposed to EUM, as way of looking at self — the interplay is between the RED and the BLUE forces as illustrated in the visuals.
For those readers who are new to the EUM Framework created by Ashok Malhotra, here is a quick introduction. Ashok has posited that there is an inherent multiplicity in each of us and each of our inner beings brings with itself — values, action choices, requisite feelings, taboos and an ideology of living.
The EUM framework spans across six such inner personas and their universes, and in this blog, I am looking at the interplay of just two of these — the part of me that is triggered, powered, and flows with power, impulsivity, courage, sexuality, passion in Strength and Desire (USD) and the other part of me that seeks inner balance, role-clarity, honor, and dutifulness through Roles and Boundaries (URB). These two inner propensities clash, collide, dance, and yet have much in common. Shogun in my belief just works with these two inner worlds.
For more information on the framework — do visit www.eumlens.in or write to me.
Part 1
The Etymology of the term — ‘Shogun’
As per wikipedia, the term shogun (将軍, lit. ‘army commander’) is the abbreviation of the historical title sei-i taishōgun (征夷大将軍), where the word derives its meaning from its five elements:
· 征 (sei, せい) means “conquer” or “subjugate”, and
· 夷 (i, い) means “barbarian” or “savage”
· 大 (dai, だい) means “great”
· 将 (shō, しょう) means “commander”, and
· 軍 (gun, ぐん) means “army”.
Thus, a literal translation of sei-i taishōgun would be ‘Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians’. You would immediately notice the references to both the universes.
Part 2
The Beginning of the Dance
The SHOGUN narrative is embedded perhaps in the late 16th century to the early 17th century, when the Spanish and Portuguese fleets ruled the trading routes of the world, and where the nation of Japan fell into the realm of the Portuguese traders and colonizers.
It is that ethereal mix of religion and politics that becomes the container of the narrative — Representatives from the Catholic Church befriend the powerful warriors within Japan, and with the growing conversions within the country, encourage a profitable trade between Japan and the opportunist traders from Portugal. The narrative hints at the associated forces of corruption, bribery, and religious fervor that paint the background for the story — old Japan and its tradition is withering away, and the opportunist colonizers seek both profit and ownership of souls.
The beginning of the narrative comes from the western lens of an Englishman — John Blackthorne. John is a resilient and courageous pilot of a mysterious ship, who is in search for this magical land and lands at the shores of Japan with a motley crew and puzzling cargo. John is a Protestant and makes it a point to emphasize who is the real Christian — he is here to break the stranglehold of the Portuguese over Japan and yet there is a mystery of who he is, what his intentions are etc. (A real funny take where the occident is showcased as mysterious, and where the orient is what it is)
John looks at the strange land of Japan (the region of Izu) with awe and intrigue — his encounter with Kashigi Yabushige — a sly, cunning yet extremely courageous samurai and lord of Izu, in the first episode is worth watching. For all the characters in the series — Yabushige deserves a special mention — his character is far more complex than a sly two-faced warrior — he offers glimpses of wisdom and deep insights.
Yabushige introduces John to Lord Yoshii Toranaga — the most powerful regent of the five regents, and who is ruling Japan on the behalf of a young prince.
Toranaga is brilliantly played by Hiroyuki Sanada and demonstrates a tenacity of a great warrior in a chess-game of death with the other four regents who wish to eliminate him as well as perhaps the heir to the throne — a political game that takes all the wisdom, dutifulness, respect, tactfulness, and patience. For all his wisdom and astuteness, Toranaga initially refuses to take on the role of the ‘Shogun’ expected of him by his family and his supporters — for he appears to carry a heft within the 5 regents that the other four don’t. Yet he upholds his promise to the old king on his deathbed to protect the young prince, and accompanying his inscrutable stances is a pallor of gloom, aloneness, and inaccessibility.
(The actor Hiroyuki Sanada caught my eye in the Last Samurai where he plays the character of Ishui — who reluctantly and disdainfully trains Tom Cruise to be a swordsman).
Part 3
Duels and Dances — the Interplay of Red (USD) and Blue (URB)
As an artist, what can one do with the shades of USD and URB? Especially if all the other four universes including Belonging and Protection are absent. The SHOGUN narrative is markedly lacking the other universes — making it quite a two-color rendition and yet without losing the complexity of its characters.
You have to give it to the creators of Shogun — Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks. Each character offers a silhouette of the interplay of two universes within and yet each character is distinct — it is these silhouettes that make the serial worth a watch.
These characters then become alive through a series of poetic and intense conversations between the two universes. For example, John commences the narrative with his preoccupation with USD — he lands in Japan after having survived immense fatigue and hunger — as a survivor (a key essence of this universe).
The initial skirmishes with local folks on the coast lead him — and quite miraculously to several powerful leaders. But it is his relationship with his translator — Toda Mariko that helps him discover the URB within though both of them are attracted and repulsed to each other. Clavell shows ingenuity in building Mariko’s character — in the beginning we see her coming in from the Blue / URB corner — but the relationship between John and Mariko remains complex.
Mariko, a devout catholic convert and an intelligent highborn woman offers John the first insight into the land of Japan — She states — “Death in on our air. And sea and earth. It can come for us at any moment — We live and We die … and we control nothing behind that” — her words make an impact on him as she speaks of the foundation of URB within in a land that is relentlessly demanding.
Nothing is more symbolic than the Japanese Garden that John begins to understand and cultivate — he begins with incomprehension on why the gardens need ‘stones’ — a statement that he intuitively resents is that — “… were it not for the rock / stone, everything would grow…”
The garden that he finally begins to appreciate is this interplay of the living and the unliving and the beauty that emanates within.
Duel / Dance 1: What is Freedom?
Throughout the series, John sees Mariko as role-bound, dutiful, and a captive — a captive of hierarchy, or patriarchy, of her insensitive husband, and of her own legacy. He sees her compliant and does not seem to comprehend her role-taking.
Even as a prisoner in Japan, he boasts about his own freedom and agency — having left the shores of England as a sailor. He proclaims — “I have no lords. I left on my own accord. And this, this is what beckoned me. The horizon more than the deep. The freedom more than the horizon. The fair wind. To be far enough out that you look around and there is nothing but open seas. No Yesterday. No tomorrow.”
Mariko reacts with a beautiful URB Response to his boastful agency and his pride by saying: “If you seek individual freedom, you will never be free from yourself…”
It takes time for these words to sink in.
Duel / Dance 2: When do I cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war?
The backdrop of the narrative is the intensifying tensions between two large armies — both sides wishing to fight that battle that would quell the conflict, and yet neither side wanting to cast the first stone — for it also means dishonor and lack of self restraint. Very often this tension is palpable as the protagonists across camps meet each other, confront and challenge each other, and yet play the waiting game with elan, tactfulness, and great skills — postponing the bloody conflict. This game of chess is played on the foundation of URB and Toranaga comes across as an accomplished player.
Toranaga’s son Yoshii Nagakado is a young Samurai wanting to spill blood and honor his legacy — he believes that this would earn his father’s respect for he experiences his father as cold, judgmental, and very aloof. In classic EUM terms, Nagakado is shown as naïve and a USD romantic — he sees the impending war as a beautiful journey offering adventure, victory, and of course an honorable death. In one of his conversations with the older and wiser warriors, he urges them on to fight by saying that: “This is the time to wreak havoc and cry war … initiate Crimson Sky…”
Toranaga’s URB Response is icy and steel like: “Why is it always that people who are so eager to go into battle are the ones who have never been in it?”
Throughout the narrative, Toranaga is desperately yet stoically seeking choices and strategies that do not lead to inevitable death — despite having the legacy and the title of the greatest warrior. He is willing to be judged as a coward or a traitor as he side-steps all provocations and invitations for the war that many of his troops including his son seeks.
The battle between the father and the son is reminiscent of how the two universes within collide and clash.
Duel / Dance 3: What’s love got to do with it?
Shogun is as much a love story as it is about war. John and Mariko find themselves raging and drowning in torrential love but holding on to some anchorage. John remains a mute witness to inner struggles of Mariko — never expressing his feelings for her. John also speaks of ‘love’ of the Christian faith — a soothing salve that is growing conversion in the land of Japan.
Challenging the notion of such Love is quintessential to the flagbearers of URB for Love is tumultuous, disruptive, and has no place in Order.
Clavell voices the URB stance on love quite vividly through a character’s lines — “Love is a Christian word. 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.”
Shogun offers many colors of love beyond the words mentioned. Marika saves John several times from certain death out of love and yet finds it extremely difficult to express it to him. However she is quite expressive about ‘lack of love’ to her husband. The series allows for some vignettes of love that is expressed — most often than not it is duty, loyalty, and respect that become love’s echoes and choruses.
Duel / Dance 4: The Illusion of Knowledge, Control and Power
In one of the episodes, Yabushige asks of Toranaga a question that is both a query as well as a taunt to his authority. He asks — “How does it feel to shape the wind to your will” … the question is significant for Yabushige struggles with controlling his destiny — he always finds himself in the wrong place and at the wrong time. He is swept by his inner feelings — including that of envy, rage, and paranoia.
Toranaga is pat with a URB response: “I don’t control the wind, I just study it”
However, he further elucidates what he means by studying much later to John. He says that “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 and fear. If you don’t give way to the seven, you are patient, then you will soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with eternity”
This is a classic URB response that requires one to invest into self-discipline and control over one’s emotions to have a better sensing of reality outside and clarity within — it has resonances with Indian thought as well.
But the USD retort is equally magnificent- “Only by living at the edge of death, can you understand the indescribable joy of life”.
Shogun does not take sides — it does not state whether URB is better than USD — it just offers stuff to mull over.
Conclusion
I do not wish to give away the plot of the series but would advocate all who love the two universes to give this narrative a go. Ten episodes should be watched with inner control (Ha!) — it took me two weeks to go through SHOGUN for each episode is well crafted and leaves the viewer a central question.
I was also picking up Ashok’s notes on what it means to have high propensities for USD and URB (this is quite reflective of my own profile as well) and discovered the following bullets. Shogun brings alive many of the following bullets in a Kenshibu that hooks the viewer.
Kenshibu is a traditional sword and poetry interpretative dance and is also depicted in one of the episodes.
From the EUM-I Manual
What does it mean to have High USD and High URB scores or orientation within?
1. Likely to hold very strong beliefs which are staunchly adhered to
2. Tend to use raw assertion to emphasize the supremacy of their belief structure
3. Likely to deploy focused determination to fulfil their agenda
4. Likely to exercise strict control with low tolerance for any deviation
5. Tend to be firm & decisive and likely to dismiss softer feelings as mushy sentimentality
6. Likely to be experienced by others as egotistical, rigid and difficult to dialogue with
7. May experience difficulty if their ego-needs clash with the demands of their set agenda
