Shogun Episode 4 Review, “The Eightfold Fence”

In Shogun episode 4, “The Eightfold Fence”, Shogun delves deep into culture, tension, and romance, only for the violence to come roaring back as Yabushige’s bad plotting comes to a head. Read in Japanese.

Score 9.5/10

Sengoku Shenanigans

“It is war.”

The previous episode of Shogun ended with Mariko smiling on from the ship as Toranaga and Blackthorne raced one another to the shore. In its fourth outing, “The Eightfold Fence”, which sees major character development for basically everybody and the beginning of the much-anticipated relationship between Mariko and Blackthorne, Mariko again has the last word. A not so happy one this time.

In its shocking finale, Yoshii Jr., aka Nagakado the Boy Wonder, Proves He Is A Man and repays Jozen for the slight he suffered earlier at Osaka Castle in episode 3 in the dumbest way possible, completely fucking up Toranaga’s entire grand strategy up to this point. Alea iacta est. Well, unsheathe your blade.

In many ways this is a fitting outcome-a catastrophic illustration of what happens when the values of duty, honor, respect, and self-control that Shogun espouses are thwarted by the pettiness of men. Like the Roman philosopher Seneca, who wrote tragedies depicting the atrocities and horror that ensued in a world where rulers trampled on the values of stoicism, Shogun spends its fourth episode meticulously illustrating the values that make its society great, and how quickly, in the hands of fools, they are lost.

To the list of “fools” we should add Yabushige, whose antics are starting to catch up with him to the potential ruin of all, and of course Omi, Yabushige’s scheming nephew and lord of Ajiro, who’s graduated from pissing on Blackthorne to greater urinals, and who looks set to become a more dangerous version of his uncle. With Toda Hiromatsu back in Osaka and Toranaga barely in this episode at all as he rallies support in the Kanto, this was sort of inevitable.

While the women still have their heads on straight, in “The Eightfold Fence” the most venal of the men on Team Toranaga have been left to themselves. They can only screw it up, and screw it up they do, demonstrating the chaos of the last 150 years of Sengoku Jidai in a nutshell and why Japan needs a Shogunate to clean up this mess.

A Bad Day for Yabushige

The episode opens with Toranaga’s arrival in Ajiro. As hatamoto, Blackthorne (unbeknownst to him at the moment) requires a consort, and a furious, one-sided argument breaks out between Fujii, who has been assigned the role to her disgust, and Mariko, whose commitment to duty is ironclad as ever, and who has little sympathy for her plight. Fujii begs to become a nun and is refused, swearing to commit seppuku after six months, which Toranaga accepts. If this has cringe vibes reminiscent of the Taka subplot in The Last Samurai, rest assured, it’s not going there.

But other matters are brewing. As the party pulls into Ajiro harbor, Nagakado lets slip that Toranaga has resigned from the Council. A stunned Yabushige panics and declares Toranaga and all his party are doomed, anticipating the Regents will lay waste to his entire province. He catches himself. “I apologize for my bad manners. I assume it’s proper for you to commit seppuku at once. ”

Toranaga says, “Thanks. But until a legal order arrives, my head will stay where it is.” They are greeted on the shore by Yabushige’s army of samurai and ashigaru, and Blackthorne has a not-so-polite reunion with Omi the Reliever, which is fortunately mostly lost in translation. Sensing he needs to outmaneuver Yabushige in order to preempt any further treachery, Toranaga addresses Yabushige’s assembled troops in a manner that leaves things unambiguous:

“Samurai of Izu, I am honored to witness the forces of my friend and ally Kashigi Yabushige. Dark clouds are gathering over Japan. We must protect it against treachery. To those who stain the Taiko’s legacy—may the gods blast you without pity! And to those who fight in the name of loyalty, it is I, Yoshii Toranaga, who humbly bows to you.

Yoshii Toranaga

The army erupts in cheers and Yabushige looks glum, since his motto might be “Make Treachery Great Again” and the army is chanting “Toranaga-sama” now, who, by the way, immediately heads back to his carrack en route for the Kanto, while Little Toranaga is left in charge. “Should’ve brought the cheap sake” Omi’s mother gripes.

The Edgelords of Ajiro

Meanwhile, Blackthorne, who literally seems to think he can just grab the boys and bolt, finds out that, nope, his crew is in Edo and Toranaga can do with them as he wishes. He will not be sailing away on the Erasmus anytime soon. He agreed to train Yabushige’s troops in gunpowder tactics and now he must honor that agreement. In light of his new status as hatamoto, he has been given a house, a salary, and Fujii.

Mind-bogglingly oblivious to the fact that he has effectively just been granted the Great White Guy in Japan Orientalist Dream, Blackthorne snarls “I don’t want any generous cuckoos”, mishearing a Japanese unit of money, and storms off to go write angry free verse poetry and listen to Nirvana. Seriously bro?

Now back to Yabu, who’s having a pity party with Omi, Kiku the courtesan, and some eye-patch dude to bewail the fact that his hit single “Kabuto Drip” has been dethroned on the charts by Toranaga’s much better “May the god$ blast U” track. Belatedly realizing his Little Finger fanfiction isn’t selling, he whines to Omi about having not caught the spy who scuttled his plans for Blackthorne to begin with. “The gods are laughing at me!” he growls, moaning that Ishido probably thinks he’s betrayed him by not betraying Toranaga better.

“I look fully committed to this losing cause. To train a gun regiment with a barbarian pretending to be a hatamoto. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Kashigi Yabushige

Up to this point the pleasure in watching Yabushige has been his mix of incompetence, evil, and understated likability, the mischievous smile and gremlin gleam in Tadanobu Asano’s eye as he plans to conquer the world, badly. But he’s also the Dude Who Boils People, so his histrionics in this moment and as he gets progressively more fucked throughout the episode are a delight, evoking a tension between schadenfreude and the lingering hope he lives long enough to keep acting the fool. I deeply desire a sort of anti-Bronn-like situation where he makes it to the finale in triumph just to be offed by Toranaga out of boredom.

We’ll see. But right now Omi starts proving himself to be better at this game, persuading Yabu that until Toranaga arrives, it’s his gun regiment and artillery, and he can do whatever he wants over six months in which Toranaga might very well die. “If they’re about to hang you, ask for a glass of water first. Who knows what could happen in between?” To quote The Witcher‘s Vesemir.

The Eightfold Fence

As Blakcthorne sulks about his new real estate, job, and hot wife, he makes some basic faux pas (“Do not walk on moss. It is very disrespectful”), until Mariko gives him the background info on Fujii’s dead husband Tadayoshi and her recently executed baby. She explains the concept of the Eightfold Fence, an inner psychological sanctum the Japanese construct to weather the vicissitudes of social life in a land where death is omnipresent without being enslaved to passions and circumstance.

If this sounds rather “Zen-like”, that’s because it is—in characteristic fashion, the concept exhibits the marriage of the indigenous Shinto faith with Zen Buddhism in Japanese thought, with the phrase “Eightfold Fence” or “Manifold Fence” originating in the oldest extant poem in Japanese literature, the song of Susano-o from Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) in the 8th century, while the philosophy itself is pure mindfulness. This “Fence” is a means of survival. As Mariko says,

“Do not be fooled by our politeness, our bows, our maze of rituals. Beneath it all, we could be a great distance away.”

Mariko

We’ll see if Blackthorne gets this one. So far being the archetypal Man of Action has served him well, especially because he looks like a younger Tom Hardy and sounds like a reincarnated Richard Burton; but as he learned in regards to his “deal” with Toranaga, he’s still out of his depth at local politics. If he wants to survive in this land, he’ll need some subtlety.

The Guns of Izu

The day of hatamoto-ing is at hand. First we get an impromptu dick-measuring competition when Omi demands Blackthorne leave his pistols behind for training day. Blackthorne fucking hates this guy, and Omi sorta deserves it, but the situation is resolved when Fujii persuades the Anjin to give her his guns and defuse the situation. Omi thinks that’s that and demands the guns from her now—which gets him a matchlock barrel in his face and a polite request to leave. On to training day.

Now remember in episode 3 when Blackthorne said he was actually a sailor and didn’t know anything about Western infantry tactics? “No problem! “I shall teach this savage land to shoot! Huzzah!” he seems to think to himself…till Mariko points out that, much like in the “there’s a Starbucks right over that hill” moment in season 3 of Barry, actually, they’ve had guns for fifty years from the Portuguese and know exactly how to use them.

“No matter! Using my armchair general knowledge of the Ottoman siege of Malta in 1540-” Wait no, he wasn’t born then, and samurai want to know his tactics work from first hand testimony. Game over? The language barrier and Mariko’s not so eager translation buys him a minute, then he stumbles into it (actual dialogue this time):

“Gun tactics are useless compared to the fine art of English naval warfare. That castle in Osaka, it’s impregnable, yes, with swords, even matchlocks. To lay siege would take months. But, anchor my ship and cannon within a few thousand yards and your army could breach the castle walls without so much as an arrow’s fletching to graze their cheeks.”

Blackthorne

Bullshit, the Japanese think. “Cannons are never accurate.” “The Portuguese tried this years ago.” Wrong. Blackthorne’s cannons are better, making long range artillery warfare totally possible. Now a de facto artillery officer, Blackthorne trains the Toranaga men over what seems to be weeks or months, in the process growing closer with Mariko and learning more Japanese. Nonetheless, she learns all about his “crimes” in Manila from translating the Erasmus rutter, and warns him to stay out of politics.

Yabushige 4: Consequences

Unfortunately the bad times are approaching. One day in winter Nebara Jozen rolls up with his escort and has bad news. The Council demands Yabushige’s return to Osaka, where he will affirm his loyalty—by submitting to execution. To refuse will be considered an act of war. Yabu is on the edge, but he’s been here before (in the very last episode in fact…). He promises to use Blackthorne’s cannon, guns that will “shrivel Christian balls”, in the service of Ishido during the coming war, and sways Jozen into witnessing a demonstration the following morning for old times’ sake.

Jozen looks as enthusiastic to watch this cannon shoot-off as my sister does when she gets movie/show recommendations, but he’ll tolerate his old “friend” in much the way everyone seems to. Yabu of all daimyo, vassal of none. Nagakado, to his credit, knows that this “demonstration” to make his father’s enemies “quake” is pure self-preserving, disloyal horseshit (“I look forward to quaking” Jozen says in contempt, remembering their little face-off during the litter drama in Osaka). He warned Toranaga this would happen, and he seems resolved to fix it.

In “The Eightfold Fence”, Yabushige is out of options. But Omi isn’t. As the crew settles in for the night, he gives Nagakado a shoulder to plot on, a way for Naga to show Dad for sure that he’s not some “soft-handed” scion, but a true samurai who can get shit done. Yes, Nagakado, do that exactly, he all but says. He barely has to prod. Soon Nagakoda has a plan to stand up for the family name-a chance for Nagakado, Captain of the Yoshii, to show his quality.

The Rain and the Clouds

Afterwards a very socially awkward exchange of weapons occurs over dinner between Blackthorne and Fujii. This is the gist:

Blackthorne, in Portuguese: “Here Fujii, I gift you these guns”

Fujii, in Japanese: “I’d rather pull a gourd from a horse”

Mariko, in Japanese: “Take the guns. He’s trying to be nice.”

Fujii, in Japanese: “Okay, but he needs to wear my father’s swords like a real man”

Blackthorne, in Port: “No thank you…”

Mariko, in Port: “Take the damn swords, Anjin…”

Cultural exchange, its a beautiful thing. More to the point: post gift-giving of deadly weapons, Blackthorne decides to take a swim at a picturesque pond and is promptly spotted by Mariko, who does not exactly object to the sight of the nude barbarian. They share some sweet nothings about Blackthorne taking Mariko to see the Queen in London, and this pick-up line works shockingly well, because a few hours later Mariko decides to claim his barbarian ass as her own.

This is actually a rather astute way to play off potential criticism of the show for perpetuating the sexual objectification of Asian women by and for the sake of White men. While the Fujii situation suggested a retread of the Algren/Taka romance in The Last Samurai and its (hopefully) unintentional murder-cuckolding/spoil of war vibes (see my article tomorrow), Shogun avoids this entirely. As with Kiku’s seduction of Takemaru in episode 1, the show has done an adroit job of demonstrating Japanese women’s sexual agency in the show, and the decision to sexualize Blackthorne for the female gaze in the bathing scene is quite intentional.

Whether you label this feminist or not is also somewhat irrelevant. Sex, like violence, is an essential aspect of being human regardless if its sensationalized, and I have long held that the first season of The Witcher was a model in the effective deployment of sexuality in television, neither descending to the rape voyuerism of Game of Thrones nor hiding behind purity culture.

It spent less time, at least initially, handwringing over the “male gaze” (a foolish term which stigmatizes normal male desire) than simply accepting the fact that, with two very attractive heterosexual leads, the equitable thing was to sexualize them both in equal measure. That’s quite not what we get in Shogun, but oh well. I can’t speak to how Shogun’s depiction of sex is perceived by Japanese viewers, so it will be interesting to see if in her upcoming guest piece former The Path writer and resident of Japan Olivia Snyder can shed some light on that matter.

Wait, what?!

Show time. Mariko asks Blackthorne over breakfast if his night with the “courtesan” went well. Very. Fujii knows somethings up, but she’ll likely pardon this affair since she hates her new husband anyway. Now is the hour when we shoot long range artillery together, and so Blackthorne, Mariko, Yabushige, and the rest of Team Toranaga gather with Jozen at the training ground for the demonstration. “For this exercise, the cannons will fire across the plains and blast the targets with perfect accuracy” says Yabushige.” He tells Nagakado to begin.

And so he does. Nagakado rides up and orders the entire artillery crew away, then gets to work.

“Nebara Jozen! Your presence here is intolerable! You have offended my father’s name. I demand compensation!”

Nagakado

Jozen can’t even suppress a smile when the boy draws his sword. The day this whelp challenges him is his goddamn birthday. “What is this? Put away your sword. Jozen is an official messenger sent by the Regents!” Yabu shouts. This is treason. But it gets worse. Because Naga doesn’t ride up or dismount to duel Jozen sword to sword—he waves his katana, signaling a concealed cannon to fire and turn Jozen’s men to pulp. A second and third blast kills more men along with obliterating Jozen’s horse and sword arm. “Who ordered this?!” Yabu roars. “I did” Naga cries, brandishing his sword like an idiot as if its his bar mitzva. “I, son of Yoshii Toranaga! Yoshii Nagakado ordered this!”

“This is a shocking act of provocation!” Yabu yells. “Your father will know of this!”

“I don’t care. In fact, I would like for him to know.” Nagakado boasts.

“This is not how Samurai fight!” the mutilated Jozen barks in digust amidst a pool of blood. You’re savages. All of you.”

Nagakado takes his head.

It is war.

Ultimately, “The Eightfold Fence” demonstrates Shogun is at its best when conducting deep character work. While its violence remains blistering even in small doses, the show lives in the relationships it forges and its incisive view of politics, of how the best and worst laid plans succeed or fail, and their human toll.

All photos are property of FX, all illustrations property of The Path/Natalie Bielat.

Benjamin Rose is a poet from Washington D.C. and the author of Elegy For My Youth (2023) and Dust Is Over All (2024).  He studied English at the Catholic University of America and is the winner of the 2023 O’Hagan Poetry Prize. From 2019 he has edited The Path. Buy his books here.