In this passage, the forces of Ishido, Toranaga, Yabu, and even Omi's village are mobilizing for war. Toranaga has sided with the church and dissolved Japan's federal government, making Ishido powerless. As well, he has started to broker a deal with Blackthorn about the possibility of receiving a fleet of ships from the English. Becoming one of the only powers in Japan with a powerful fleet would put him in complete control of the country. I am starting to really like the book now that the action heating up. Also, now that there is a character better than Blackthorn in almost every way that a non European can be, Toranaga has become my favorite character of the story. This passage of the story has gotten me interested in the story again, because the characters are actually doing stuff instead of laying around and... laying around. The included video shows scenes from the movie version of Shōgun, which helps to understand key aspects of the novel by adding a visual aspect to the mentioned characters, making it easier to understand who is who.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=09®ion=eaj
This website is a timeline of Japan in the 1600s. Understanding this time period is important to the novel, because it is the time period in which the book takes place.
I'm afraid I can't view your video, though I would like to see it. I do like your website though, it provides very interesting and relevant information to the time period of your novel. It's great that your starting to like your book again. I know I was really hating the main character of my novel as well. I'd like to know why Toranaga is better than Blackthorn though.
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