Shogun (1975) by James Clavell

Why the hell am I so enthralled by Japanese aesthetics? I don't know. I really don't. I'm a pretty introspective guy and I like to think I know myself better than most people know themselves, but when it comes to this thing I'm just dumbstruck.

Irezumi, the art of traditional Japanese tattooing

I can look at photos of Tokyo, over-and-over, and completely swoon just over the style of the place. I'll be visiting it several times of the next few years despite the flight being 15-16 hours from where I live. Lost in Translation is my favorite film ever. I love Japanese ukiyo-e art so fanatically that by this time next year half of my upper body will be permanently covered with irezumi (left). And in a move even crazier than the tattoos, I tried really hard to like anime and manga! And I still really could not adequately articulate why I feel this way about Japanese art.

I just like it. It's just a thing I like.

That's all I've got.

So of course I would read Shogun. And of course I'd like it, too. As we've established, I'm not really the guy you go to for an objective review of Japanese media.

Shogun is long, and epic, and it's totally worth reading, I think, even if you don't have my complex. It's got its flaws: I found the entire romantic subplot to be pretty hokey and didn't really care much for the main character. But Tokugawa is such a phenomenal character, and his development through the story, in addition to the main character's unique viewpoint of Japanese culture, kept me reading and pushing through to the end.

If you think you'd like this kind of thing then you probably will. Give it a shot.

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