Gai-Jin (novel)
Encyclopedia
Gai-Jin is a 1993 novel by James Clavell
, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of Tai-Pan
, it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan
, the son of Culum and Tess Struan
, in Japan. The story goes into depth on the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced in Japan, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident
and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War.
and ronin
shishi
in the sonnō jōi
movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angelique escapes unharmed to get help. Tyrer and Malcolm make their way back to Yokohama
later that day, where Dr. Babcott operates on Malcolm. Meanwhile, at a village inn, Sanjiro, the daimyo
of Satsuma, meets with Katsumata, one of his advisors, and receives Ori and Shorin. Malcom is seriously injured and requires the help of local surgeon
, Babcott. He is not expected to last long and while he is in bed sick, he shows his emotions for Angelique, who will eventually become his wife.
Struan and Company (the "Noble House" trading company of the novel) is based on Jardine Matheson Holdings
, a massive Scottish trading company that continues to this day as an Asia-based trading company. Malcolm Struan was loosely based on the real-life Jardine taipan William Keswick. Jamie McFay is based on Thomas Blake Glover
. Edward Gornt was loosely based on John Samuel Swire, founder of John Swire & Sons Limited and Swire Pacific. Angelique Richaud is also based on Amelia Dubeux, who was married to William Keswick.
The interpreter Phillip Tyrer may be loosely based upon Ernest Mason Satow
.
Gai-Jin has many Japanese characters based on historical figures. Lord Toranaga Yoshi is based on Tokugawa Yoshinobu
. Misamoto, his interpreter, is loosely based on John Manjiro. Lady Yazu represents Princess Chikako, the Princess Kazu
. Lord Anjo is Andō Nobumasa
(1820–1871). Nobusada Toranaga is Tokugawa Iemochi
. Anachronistically, Lord Sanjiro is based on Shimazu Nariakira
, although the Satsuma daimyo of the period was Shimazu Tadayoshi the second, as Nariakira died in 1858. Hiraga is Itō Hirobumi
, and his traveling companion to England is Inoue Kaoru
. Katsumata, anachronistically, is based on Yoshida Shoin
, though the real-life Yoshida had been executed in 1859, three years prior to the depicted events in this book.
James Clavell
James Clavell, born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was an Australian-born, British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war...
, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of Tai-Pan
Tai-Pan (novel)
Tai-Pan is a novel written by James Clavell about European and American traders who move into Hong Kong in 1842 following the end of the First Opium War. It is the second book in Clavell's "Asian Saga".-Plot summary:...
, it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan
Malcolm Struan
Malcolm Struan is the Tai-Pan to-be in the novel Gai-jin, learning business in the Japanese settlement of Yokohama, one of the few places in Japan foreigners were allowed to stay...
, the son of Culum and Tess Struan
Tess Struan
Hag Struan redirects here.Tess Struan is a character in the James Clavell novels Tai-Pan and Gai-Jin. She is the daughter of Tyler Brock, Tai-pan of Brock & Sons Trading Company. Tess marries Culum Struan, who is the son of Dirk Struan, founder of Struan's trading company and main rival to her...
, in Japan. The story goes into depth on the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced in Japan, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident
Namamugi Incident
The was a samurai assault on foreign nationals in Japan on September 14, 1862, which resulted in the August 1863 bombardment of Kagoshima, during the Late Tokugawa shogunate...
and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War.
Plot summary
The story opens with a fictional rendition of the Namamugi Incident. On September 14, 1862. Phillip Tyrer, John Canterbury, Angelique Richaud, and Malcolm Struan are riding when they are attacked by Shorin Anato and Ori Ryoma, both Satsuma samuraiSamurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
and ronin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
shishi
Shishi (organization)
Shishi was a term used to describe Japanese political activists of the late Edo period...
in the sonnō jōi
Sonno joi
is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...
movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angelique escapes unharmed to get help. Tyrer and Malcolm make their way back to Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
later that day, where Dr. Babcott operates on Malcolm. Meanwhile, at a village inn, Sanjiro, the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Satsuma, meets with Katsumata, one of his advisors, and receives Ori and Shorin. Malcom is seriously injured and requires the help of local surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
, Babcott. He is not expected to last long and while he is in bed sick, he shows his emotions for Angelique, who will eventually become his wife.
Historical basis
As with Clavell's other novels, the setting and many characters are based on actual events, which set the stage for the novel.Struan and Company (the "Noble House" trading company of the novel) is based on Jardine Matheson Holdings
Jardine Matheson Holdings
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited often referred to as Jardines, is a multinational corporation incorporated in Bermuda and based in Hong Kong. While listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, the vast majority of Jardines shares are traded in Singapore...
, a massive Scottish trading company that continues to this day as an Asia-based trading company. Malcolm Struan was loosely based on the real-life Jardine taipan William Keswick. Jamie McFay is based on Thomas Blake Glover
Thomas Blake Glover
Thomas Blake Glover, Order of the Rising Sun was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan.-Early life :...
. Edward Gornt was loosely based on John Samuel Swire, founder of John Swire & Sons Limited and Swire Pacific. Angelique Richaud is also based on Amelia Dubeux, who was married to William Keswick.
The interpreter Phillip Tyrer may be loosely based upon Ernest Mason Satow
Ernest Mason Satow
Sir Ernest Mason Satow PC, GCMG, , known in Japan as "" , known in China as "薩道義" or "萨道义", was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist....
.
Gai-Jin has many Japanese characters based on historical figures. Lord Toranaga Yoshi is based on Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...
. Misamoto, his interpreter, is loosely based on John Manjiro. Lady Yazu represents Princess Chikako, the Princess Kazu
Kazu-no-Miya Chikako
was the wife of 14th shogun Tokugawa Iemochi. She was renamed Lady Seikan'in no miya after she took the tonsure as a widow.She was the eighth and youngest daughter of Emperor Ninkō and his concubine, Hashimoto Tsuneko - renamed Kangyouin after she took the tonsure. She was the younger half-sister...
. Lord Anjo is Andō Nobumasa
Ando Nobumasa
was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Iwakidaira Domain. He was a rōjū in the Tokugawa shogunate, and was active in the wake of Ii Naosuke's assassination...
(1820–1871). Nobusada Toranaga is Tokugawa Iemochi
Tokugawa Iemochi
was the 14th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of Japan's first major contact with the United States, which occurred under Commodore Perry in 1853 and 1854, and of the subsequent "re-opening" of...
. Anachronistically, Lord Sanjiro is based on Shimazu Nariakira
Shimazu Nariakira
was a Japanese feudal lord of the Edo period, the 28th in the line of Shimazu clan lords of Satsuma Domain. He was renowned as an intelligent and wise lord, and was greatly interested in Western learning and technology...
, although the Satsuma daimyo of the period was Shimazu Tadayoshi the second, as Nariakira died in 1858. Hiraga is Itō Hirobumi
Ito Hirobumi
Prince was a samurai of Chōshū domain, Japanese statesman, four time Prime Minister of Japan , genrō and Resident-General of Korea. Itō was assassinated by An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist who was against the annexation of Korea by the Japanese Empire...
, and his traveling companion to England is Inoue Kaoru
Inoue Kaoru
Count , GCMG was a member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesman in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nation's leaders and formation of its policies.-Early years:...
. Katsumata, anachronistically, is based on Yoshida Shoin
Yoshida Shoin
Yoshida Shōin was one of the most distinguished intellectuals in the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate...
, though the real-life Yoshida had been executed in 1859, three years prior to the depicted events in this book.
Principal characters
- Malcolm Struan - grandson of Dirk Struan, eldest son of Culum Struan and heir and soon to be tai-pan of the Noble House
- Jamie McFay - manager of Struan's in Japan
- Dr. Ronald Hoag - Struan family physician
- Sir William Aylesbury, KCB - British Chief Minister to the JapansAnglo-Japanese relationsThe history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
, head of legation - Dr. George Babcott - British Deputy Minister and surgeon
- Phillip Tyrer - diplomat and apprentice Japanese interpreter
- Norbert Greyforth - head of Brock and Sons in Japan
- Lieutenant John Marlowe - captain of the HMS Pearl, aide-de-camp to Admiral Ketterer
- Edward Gornt - gentleman Shanghai trader from Virginia, illegitimate son of Morgan Brock through Kristian Gornt. It is through Gornt that Brock's descendants continued to flourish in Asia. His great-grandson Quillan Gornt was a major character in Noble House.
- Henri Bonaparte Seratard - French MinisterFranco-Japanese relationsFrance-Japan relations refers to bilateral relations between France and Japan. The history of goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Southern France, creating a sensation...
- André Édouard Poncin, French spy, ostensibly a trader
- Count Alexi Zergeyev - Russian Minister
- Angelique Richaud - beloved of Malcolm Struan, ward of the French Minister
- Lord Toranaga Yoshi - the Guardian of the Heir
- Misamoto - Lord Yoshi's interpreter
- Hiraga - also known as Ukiya, Nakama and Otami, leader of the Choshu shishi
- Shogun Nobusada Toranaga - heir to the title of Shogun and to the Toranaga family; also mentioned in Noble HouseNoble HouseNoble House is a novel by James Clavell, published in 1981 and set in Hong Kong in 1963.It is a massive book, well over 1000 pages, with dozens of characters and numerous intermingling plot lines. In 1988, it was adapted as a television miniseries for NBC starring Pierce Brosnan...
and Whirlwind - Lady Yazu, wife of Nobusada, stepsister of Emperor KomeiEmperor Komeiwas the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Kōmei's reign spanned the years from 1846 through 1867.-Genealogy:Before Kōmei's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was ;, his title was ....
- Lord Nori Anjo - daimyo of KiiKii- Geography :* Kii Channel, a separating Honshū and Shikoku islands of Japan.* Kii Mountains, a mountain range in the Kansai region of Japan.* Kii Province, a former province of Japan.* Kii Peninsula, a peninsula in the Kansai region of Japan....
and MikawaMikawaMikawa may refer to:Places in Japan* Mikawa Province, an old province of Japan* Mikawa, Yamagata, a town in Yamagata Prefecture* Mikawa, Ishikawa, former town in Ishikawa Prefecture* Mikawa, Kumamoto, former town in Kumamoto Prefecture...
, head of the Council of EldersRojuThe ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū... - Lord Sanjiro - daimyo of Satsuma
- Katsumata - advisor of Sanjiro and secret head of the shishi
- Lord Ogama - daimyo of Choshu
- Raiko - mama-sanMama-sanA "mama-san", or "mamasan" is usually a woman in a position of authority, especially one in charge of a geisha house or bar in Japan and East Asia....
of Yokohama's House of the Three Carp - Ori Ryoma - shishi, leader of a Satsuma cell, obsessed with Angelique
- Sumomo - shishi, Hiraga's fiancée
Secondary characters
- Culum Struan - son of Dirk Struan, second tai-pan, father of Malcolm
- Tess (Hag) StruanTess StruanHag Struan redirects here.Tess Struan is a character in the James Clavell novels Tai-Pan and Gai-Jin. She is the daughter of Tyler Brock, Tai-pan of Brock & Sons Trading Company. Tess marries Culum Struan, who is the son of Dirk Struan, founder of Struan's trading company and main rival to her...
- de facto tai-pan of the Noble House - Gordon Chen - Compradore of the Noble House, illegitimate son of Dirk Struan
- Admiral Charles Ketterer - commander of the British fleet
- Captain Settry Pallidar - captain of the Dragoons
- Dmitri Syborodin - American trader of Cossack descent
- Heatherly Skye - the only solicitor in Japan
- John Canterbury - based on the real-life Charles Lennox RichardsonCharles Lennox RichardsonCharles Lennox Richardson was an English merchant based in Shanghai who was killed in Japan during the Namamugi Incident. His name is properly spelled as “Charles Lenox Richardson” according to the census and family documents.-Merchant:Richardson was born in London in 1834. He relocated to...
, murdered by Satsuma samurai - Sir Morgan Brock
- General Thomas Ogilvy
- Isiah Adamson - American Minister
- von Heimrich - Prussian MinisterGerman-Japanese relationsFrom the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603, Japan isolated itself from the outside world until the Meiji Restoration of 1867, when it began to accept contact with Western nations. German–Japanese relations were established in 1860 with the first ambassadorial visit to Japan from Prussia...