Anjin

Season

1

Episode

1

Air date

February 27, 2024

Writer

Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks

Director

Jonathan van Tulleken

Episode guide

Next
Servants of Two Masters

Anjin is the first episode of the FX limited series, Shōgun. The episode premiered on February 27, 2024.

Synopsis[]

Destinies converge in Japan after a barbarian ship washes ashore in a poor fishing village. Meanwhile, in Osaka, Lord Toranaga finds himself outplayed by his enemies.

Plot Summary[]

The year is 1600. For decades, Portuguese Catholics have richly profited from trade in Japan. They have kept its whereabouts hidden from their sworn enemies—the European Protestants. In Osaka, the reigning Taikō has died, leaving behind an heir too young to rule. Five warrior lords are now trapped in a bitter struggle. All of them seek the title that would make their power absolute.

An old ship moves slowly in the ocean at night. An Englishman, John Blackthorne, drops something into the ocean. He pulls it up and sees fine white sand, which he decides to take it to the captain. The captain tells him he sees what he wants to see. Blackthorne assures him they will reach land—Japan specifically—and the captain tells him it’s the scurvy talking. The captain tells him he’s reached his limit after most of their crew has perished. He looks at a gun on his table. Blackthorne leaves and stands alone on deck, looking out into the distance. A gun shot goes off, presumably the captain killing himself.

A Japanese man sings to himself as he walks along the rocky coastline. He sees a ship approach the shore. The Japanese armed forces get alerted and rush to the shore to confront the boat and its passengers. They find sick starved men, unable to move. One man moves and they choke him. The soldiers wonder who they are.

Elsewhere, a group rides horses in the countryside of Osaka. Yoshii Nagakado hands a beautiful bird to his father, Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who admires the bird’s ability to conceal herself. They ride to Osaka Castle and receive a request from Lord Ishido Kazunari asking that he confine himself to his personal quarters. The onlookers seem surprised Toranaga came at all. Toranaga goes to meet with the Council of Regents. They accuse him of aligning power against the Council by consenting to six marriages and doubling the size of his fief. Toranaga insists he is content with his role as Lord of the Kanto and wants peace. The Council asks if he took Lady Ochiba, the heir’s mother, hostage to guarantee his safety, but Toranaga insists that his daughter-in-law is in labor and this is the reason for her visit to his castle.

Ishido, on behalf of the council, demands the Lady Ochiba’s return under penalty of impeachment. One of Toranaga’s men, Tadayoshi, jumps up and defends his lord, expressing his anger that the Council has insulted Lord Toranaga. Toranaga commands Tadayoshi to stand down and admonishes him for accusing Ishido of insulting Toranaga. Tadayoshi asks permission for Toranaga's permission to commit seppuku and end his bloodline, and Toranaga apologizes to the council on Tadayoshi's behalf. Lord Ishido tells Toranaga to return Lady Ochiba and then they will vote on his fate.

Toranaga discusses the incident with his general Toda Hiromatsu and asks if Tadayoshi is married to his grandchild. Hiromatsu confirms that he is married to his best grandchild, Usami Fuji. Toranaga says he will make sure they live. He then asks Hiromatsu to go to Ajiro in his place.

Meanwhile, Tadayoshi asks his wife Fuji to hand over their son on the Lord’s orders but she refuses, holding a knife to her own neck in threat. Toda Mariko reasons with her, pulling the knife away.

The ship gets towed to shore. Blackthorne insists to his surviving crewmates that the orders are still on and that they should negotiate. He tells them to say they are merchants lost at sea. Blackthorne pleads with Kashigi Omi, the Lord of Ajiro, on behalf of his men for their lives. Omi brings them to his uncle Lord Kashigi Yabushige who has his Portuguese priest translate. The priest accuses them of being pirates and refuses to properly translate his requests. Blackthorne protests the priest's misrepresentation, and Yabushige ends the meeting since there is no proof he is a pirate. Yabushige commands that Blackthorne is bathed and taken back into captivity.

Lord Toranaga plays a game with his nephew Yaechiyo, the Taikō's heir. He explains that he was a hostage when he was young. Daiyoin calls Lord Yaechiyo back to his studies but he says she wants to do archery instead. Toranaga encourages him to practice his writing to be a great leader one day. After the heir leaves, Toranaga and Daiyoin discuss their country’s fate. She tells him it’s time for a Shogun, but Toranaga says he doesn’t wish to be one.

One of Blackthorne’s men get boiled alive on orders from Yabushige. Lord Yabishige comments that the man’s end of death was inarticulate and that he took a long time to die. Meanwhile, Kiku, a courtesan, entertains Yabishige by seducing another man in front of him.

Hiromatsu arrives in Ajiro and questions Yabushige about the ship, insisting that it belongs to Lord Toranaga. Reluctantly, Yabushige assures Hiromatsu he is loyal to Toranaga and that the ship is his.

Blackthorne wakes up the next morning, shaved and bathed and completely naked. Two women dress him, and then he is taken to Yabushige. A Spaniard sailing for the Portuguese, Vasco Rodrigues, arrives and tells Yabushige he’ll take care of the pilot. Blackthorne demands to know if his crew is alive, and is informed that one is dead and the rest are prisoners. They sail for Osaka and encounter a rough storm. Blackthorne screams for them to turn the boat into the swell so it doesn’t sink, helping pilot them to safety; meanwhile, Rodrigues falls overboard. After landing, Blackthorne insists they look for Rodrigues because he never leaves a man behind. They find him washed up onto a rock at the cliff face. Blackthorne intends to save him but is not allowed. Instead, Yabushige goes himself but the rope severs and he falls onto the rocks below. He finds Rodrigues is still breathing but he falls into the water. Clinging to the rocks, Yabushige prepares to end his own life with his sword rather than allow the waves to take him, which shocks and perplexes Blackthorne. Yabushige's men above go to get more rope, saving both Yabushige and Rodrigues.

Lord Toranaga meets with Mariko to ask her to translate Portuguese once "the barbarian" arrives from Ajiro.

Rodrigues confronts Blackthorne about a journal he found explaining his orders, to plunder any Spanish territory and find Japan to open trade in the New World. Rodrigues points his gun at him and asks him what he’s going to say when they get to Osaka. They arrive in Osaka and Blackthorne is taken to Lord Toranaga, to whom Blackthorne bows deeply.