Shogun Novel Published

James Clavell published Shogun in 1975, a historical novel set in 1600 Japan during the power struggle preceding the Tokugawa shogunate. The narrative follows English navigator John Blackthorne, loosely based on William Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan. The novel drew on the historical conflict between Tokugawa Ieyasu and rival daimyo. It sold over six million copies in its first five years and was adapted into a 1980 television miniseries and a 2024 series.