I recently watched the new version of Shogun, and it's fucking great. I don't remember much about the original Shogun, mostly because I only watched it when I was passing through the room while Mom was watching it, and I remember thinking, that looks boring. At the time I was exclusively interested in the Hardy Boys, Star Wars and not much else.
It should be mentioned that I do have a copy of the book. I think it was my mom's copy, but it's possible I got it from a friend's mom when she passed. And so we're on the same page, if you're generally the same age as I am, your mom almost certainly had a copy of the book. FOR REASONS. I never read it, which makes me think I got it from my friend's mom. If it was around the house when I was a kid, I would have read it by now. I'm behind on my reading list, but not *that far* behind.
At any rate, this isn't a review. If you want that, it's the excellent story of a Protestant ship's captain who finds himself stranded in feudal Japan with his only hope of translation being his mortal enemy, Portuguese Catholics. Over time he finds himself enmeshed with his environment, falls in love, quickly learns Japanese and I'd rather not go further than that. Because there's a moment late in the series that I found very interesting, but it's an absolute spoiler, and I won't mention it here.
If you're anything like me, you're already watching it right now. But I know people in general don't like history, and Americans in particular don't like non-American history. That implies that life outside the great 50 is manageable, but really, the rest of the world can't survive without us. Can they?
But like I said, this is no review. It made me think about Japanese culture and honor, and it's very easy to get sucked into wanting that kind of thing. Dishonor rides the United States like a horse. There are politicians who literally cannot tell the truth. It's impossible. You watch them talk and talk and talk, and you can see in their eyes the brown smirk of bullshit. The same goes for, well, let's skip time and effort. You know my usual hobby-horses.
The thing is, the punishment for dishonor is seppuku, ritual suicide that involves you shoving a blade into your guts and disemboweling yourself while someone else cuts your head off. So you, yourself, have to deliver the initial killing blow. Could you imagine Donald Trump ever doing such a thing? Elon Musk? Do you think it even crossed the Boeing CEO's mind when that door flew off in midflight? In feudal Japan, he would have had to kill himself. It was the law.
So for the truly honorable, such a society would be a blessing. The reason you can't be a dickhead is because you will have to kill yourself if you are? That's pretty effective at keeping one honest.
But there is a drawback, and I see it written all over Shogun. Who decides what is honor? And what happens when that definition shifts meaning? It will. Words in any living language constantly evolve. (Although it irritates me when someone tries to mutate the language, like using "literally" when you mean "figuratively.")
That's a real problem and why such a society is doomed from the get-go. In case you're wondering what the real problem is with democracy, it's that people are generally not educated, and they pine for an emperor instead of a president. If you don't believe me, go ask Julius Caesar. If you can get past the 23 stab wounds. And he supposedly denied the crown three times! Just think what might have happened if he accepted the first time! The ancient Romans might have gotten angry enough to invent gunpowder.
Out of curiosity, I decided to see when seppuku was outlawed. It never entered my mind that it might still be practiced. I'm sure it is, but Japan simply calls it suicide now to discourage such things. It was banned in 1873. A sound decision. So even the society most closely associated with the practice doesn't do it anymore. That explains why we shouldn't take up the cause, even if it is to clean up corrupt politicians and sleazy CEOs.
I cheated on this one. I'm not going to be home tonight, but I'll be posting it from a friend's house, where I intend to be very high tonight. I also have my newsletter ready to go for when I wake up tomorrow.
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