Shogun Episode 3 “Tomorrow is Tomorrow” ends with John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) accepting a huge new role from Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), one that has the ability to change everything for the sailor adrift in a strange, alien land.
**Spoilers for Shogun Episode 3 “Tomorrow is tomorrow”, now available in streaming Hulu**
After the English navigator helps get Toranaga and most of his inner circle out of Osaka, the warlord “rewards” the pilot by officially making him a vassal. As he tells his astonished followers, Blackthorne is no longer a barbarian. He is “Hatamoto”. It’s a pronouncement that elicits a gasp from the scheming daimyo Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano). Mariko (Anna Sawai) explains to Blackthorne that it is “a great honor.”
In fact, it’s a big deal that Toranaga turns Blackthorne into a Hatamoto. The Hatamotos were samurai in the upper levels of a shogunate. The word loosely translates as “banderista.” They were allowed not only the privilege of invoking their lord, but were also considered the inner circle or first line of defense.
Blackthorne’s rapid rise through the ranks of Toranaga’s camp is quite shocking even if the Westerner put his life at risk to cover up Toranaga’s plot to escape Osaka.
When the Jugo Mobile asked Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada Why Toranaga turned Blackthorne into Hatamoto so quickly at the 2024 Winter TCA, Sanada said: “I think Toranaga has instincts and a good eye for seeing people. How can I use this guy? Or do I have to fight him?? He knows the human being.”
Sanada added that Toranaga was at “the bottom of a dangerous situation” at this time of the Shogun. “So even a small thing, if you feel any chance to use [it] gain [he’ll take it].”
It’s important to note that before Toranaga turns Blackthorne into Hatamoto, he criticizes his son Naga (Yuki Kura) for his short-sighted view on how to use people.
“When will you understand that you are playing a game of friends and enemies…” Toranaga tells Naga, “…when you only have yourself in this life?”
Of course, Toranaga becomes even closer friends with Blackthorne after turning him into Hatamoto, asking him to join him for a swim, which soon turns into the English sailor teaching the Japanese lord how to pe into the water. Blackthorne soon tires of ping non-stop towards Toranaga. Mariko suggests in Japanese to give Anjin-san a break. Maybe he can continue tomorrow. Toranaga replies: “Tomorrow is tomorrow. Today I will learn to pe.”
It’s a line that not only explains the episode’s title, but also a deep undercurrent of philosophy woven throughout the entire episode. Shogun. The future is uncertain. After all, would the John Blackthorne we initially met in the show’s cold open believe that he would be racing Toranaga to the shores of Japan in a short period of time? Would he believe that he could be Hatamoto?
Tomorrow is tomorrow. However, as long as it is today, you can count on Toranaga to lead with deliberate and strategic moves to survive another day.