John Blackthorne (2024)

For the character from the 1980 series, please see John Blackthorne
John Blackthorne is the central character of the 2024 television miniseries Shōgun, which was based on the novel by James Clavell. In this miniseries Blacktrone was portrayed by .
Born in England Blackthorne became a sailor. By the early 1600s Blackthorne was the pilot on board the Dutch ship Erasmus out of Rotterdam. As pilot he was responsible for the navigation of the ship and was second in command. The Erasmus was part of a five ship fleet sailing east on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, and was the last surviving ship in the fleet. Sailing east many of the crew fell prey to accidents and illness. The Captain, who was seriously ill, committed suicide. As a result Blackthorne was left in command.
As the ship sailed out past Asia the Erasmus encountered a storm. By the time it cleared the Erasmus found herself in a Japanese harbor. The crew was taken prisoner, and the ship impounded. Finding his name difficult to pronounce, the Japanese took to callhim Blackthrone barbarian or Anjin (Japanese for pilot). He quickly became an ally to Lord Toronaga. Deciding they could no longer call him barbarian, Toronaga ordered that going forward, Blacktrone was to be known as Hatamoto. 
==Trivia==
* The character of John Blackthorne was based upon the real life English sailor . Adams was one of few survivors from a Dutch East India expedition to reach Japan. Soon after arriving in Japan the rotted hulk of the ship they arrived in sank. Becoming a trusted advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Adams became a samurai and hatamoto with right of direct audience to Tokugawa.
==External Links==
* John Blackthorne on the Shogun Wiki
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