What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams
In 1600, English helmsman William Adams washed ashore in Japan, and was interrogated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s most powerful warlord and soon-to-be shogun. Far from executing Adams as a pirate, Ieyasu made him one of his most trusted advisers. This biography traces Adams’s rise from humble pilot to a position of immense influence in Japan’s foreign relations. It unravels the subsequent diplomatic manoeuvres of the Western powers in the shogun’s empire, and Adams’s eventual downfall.
This is the first full biography of Adams based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese sources, and includes much previously unknown information. Frederik Cryns tells the authentic story of Adams’s chequered life in its historical context, taking us on a compelling journey into Adams’s complex inner feelings and cosmopolitan heart.
This is the first full biography of Adams based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese sources, and includes much previously unknown information. Frederik Cryns tells the authentic story of Adams’s chequered life in its historical context, taking us on a compelling journey into Adams’s complex inner feelings and cosmopolitan heart.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published July 3, 2024
34 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 7, 2024
Hey, it's rude to stare at me whilst I inject this in my veins as my "Shogun" fix! 🤣
I wonder if there's something left to say after Hiromi Rogers' wonderful biography of William Adams, but this one promises to include bits of information from the Portuguese & Spanish sources, which I don't know much about (I know the English version and the Japanese version), and that alone intrigued me. We'll see if this delivers, the author was on UK media giving interviews and he seemed knowledgeable.
Update: (Narrator: The fix was a low quality drug. Not recommended.)
I'm seriously surprised at the low quality of this book, and wonder if it was published mostly to bank on the popularity of the "Shogun" show. Considering it claims to make use of hitherto untranslated sources, the repetitive regurgitation of already-known facts is surprising (the promised unknown Spanish and Portuguese sources turned to be some I had already read and that are already in Rogers' and Milton's books), and more so that the author makes some mistakes even a simple layperson like me knows for the errors they are, like when Cryns says Akechi Mitsuhide (Mariko's father in the show and novel) was killed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. No, he wasn't! And that's not the only mistake here.
And also, considering that Cryns cites Hiromi T. Rogers's biography of William Adams (for me, THE biography) in his recommended reading list, it's eyebrow-raising how much this book omits about Adams' life in Japan. There's so little about his "service to the Shogun," so very little that you could argue the title is deceptive. And besides, a lot of the book is about historical context more than about Adams. In this, you can also sense a whiff of "my colonialism was better than your colonialism" in how England is framed facing Spain and Portugal's interests, which is hilarious when you first notice it. Sure, Spain/Portugal were hell-bent on cultural and religious takeover of Japan and the world, but poor honest Englishmen and Dutch only wanted to sell baubles and absolutely no thoughts of dirty colonialism crossed their pristine mind. So funny.
I wouldn't bother with this book, Rogers is your woman for all things Adams/Blackthorne. You can also have a look at Milton's bio of Adams. There's really not much else or better than these two.
I wonder if there's something left to say after Hiromi Rogers' wonderful biography of William Adams, but this one promises to include bits of information from the Portuguese & Spanish sources, which I don't know much about (I know the English version and the Japanese version), and that alone intrigued me. We'll see if this delivers, the author was on UK media giving interviews and he seemed knowledgeable.
Update: (Narrator: The fix was a low quality drug. Not recommended.)
I'm seriously surprised at the low quality of this book, and wonder if it was published mostly to bank on the popularity of the "Shogun" show. Considering it claims to make use of hitherto untranslated sources, the repetitive regurgitation of already-known facts is surprising (the promised unknown Spanish and Portuguese sources turned to be some I had already read and that are already in Rogers' and Milton's books), and more so that the author makes some mistakes even a simple layperson like me knows for the errors they are, like when Cryns says Akechi Mitsuhide (Mariko's father in the show and novel) was killed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. No, he wasn't! And that's not the only mistake here.
And also, considering that Cryns cites Hiromi T. Rogers's biography of William Adams (for me, THE biography) in his recommended reading list, it's eyebrow-raising how much this book omits about Adams' life in Japan. There's so little about his "service to the Shogun," so very little that you could argue the title is deceptive. And besides, a lot of the book is about historical context more than about Adams. In this, you can also sense a whiff of "my colonialism was better than your colonialism" in how England is framed facing Spain and Portugal's interests, which is hilarious when you first notice it. Sure, Spain/Portugal were hell-bent on cultural and religious takeover of Japan and the world, but poor honest Englishmen and Dutch only wanted to sell baubles and absolutely no thoughts of dirty colonialism crossed their pristine mind. So funny.
I wouldn't bother with this book, Rogers is your woman for all things Adams/Blackthorne. You can also have a look at Milton's bio of Adams. There's really not much else or better than these two.
February 26, 2024
It's a short, quick read, and as a non-fictional account it reads as slightly perfunctory in places but I enjoyed this. It does a good job of placing Adams' story in the wider context of its time.
July 30, 2024
This is a really good book and clearly the most thoroughly researched book on the life of William Adams, incorporating as it does Dutch sources alongside Japanese, English, Spanish and Portuguese. I found the coverage of Adams’s early life particularly interesting, such as his participation against the Spanish Armada, and the raising of the fleet to Japan in Rotterdam, which he would join. However, I found the writing to be very staccato, with short sentences with what felt like it became a very repetitive structure. Especially towards the end, it felt like it read like a long list of dry facts (Adams travelled to Edo, Adams travelled to Kyoto, Adams travelled to Siam), without much colour or giving you much sense of you being there. By comparison, in this regard, Giles Milton’s Samurai William is a much more enjoyable and colourful read - helped by his keeping the cavalier language of the original sources. Absolute credit to Cryns for his research though - there’s no competition for how comprehensive it is.
November 25, 2024
Interesting book. Japan was much more open than I expected.
June 12, 2024
A brilliant account of William Adams' life and the politics spanning his 55 years. I have particularly enjoyed the chapters 1-3 and found overall the book very enjoyable and easy read. Despite the difficult political situation in Japan the book is brilliant at explaining the events and keeping the reader engaged throughout. It is a great companion to someone who is interested in the historical facts that surround William Adams' life and reads wonderful compared to any other historical book I have come across in the topic! This book is a true story and the author has corroborated the facts from different sources in order to recreate the life of Adams. If you have read James Clavell's "Shogun" and you are interested in how the real historical facts took place - I would truly recommend this book! Well done Frederick! 5 stars well deserved! I wish other historians would write like you!
August 7, 2024
THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE NOVEL AND TV SERIES "SHOGUN"
The word “shogun” entered the English language in 1975 with the publication of James Clavell’s blockbuster bestselling novel, Shogun. And it gained broader attention earlier this year with the release of the 10-episode FX television series of the same name. Now, a professor of history living in Kyoto has told the true story of the real-life English pilot, William Adams, on whom Clavell based his fictional English pilot, John Blackthorne.
Frederik Cryns bases his book, In the Service of the Shogun, on primary historical sources—and it’s as exciting as the fictional retelling. It’s the true story of Shogun. Also, as Cryns notes, “Clavell only used six months of Adams’s life as a model for his novel, but the other 55 years are worth studying too.” As Cryns did, using not just English but also surviving Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish documents to piece Adams’s story together.
THE REAL-LIFE JOHN BLACKTHORNE
William Adams (1564-1620) drifted ashore in Japan in 1600, becoming the first Englishman to reach the fabled country. He had apprenticed as a shipbuilder as a boy of twelve and was the master of a supply ship for the Royal Navy during the invasion of the Spanish Armada. Soon thereafter, he trained as a pilot on merchant ships, shipping out in 1598 as a pilot major on one of five Dutch ships bound for the East Indies (present-day Indonesia).
The long voyage was more than commonly troubled, and by the time Adams made it through the Straits of Magellan, his was the only one of the five ships still afloat in the Pacific. But he and his surviving crew were blown far off course to the north, and when they reached Japan the crew was sick and dying. “There were 24 men left on board, only five of whom, including Adams, were able to walk.”
THE VOYAGE OF WILLIAM ADAMS TO THE PACIFIC
Astronauts face constant danger when they leave the surface of the Earth. But few die. Not so with the explorers of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Not just from scurvy and the powerful storms that posed a constant threat of shipwreck but also death in battle. Because low-intensity war was unending beginning during the reign of Elizabeth I.
“Before her reign,” Cryns observes, “wars between European countries had mainly been the result of rivalries between monarchs. Once one side had won, the war was over, and the aftermath was settled with the transfer of land and ransoms. But religious wars, which became more frequent during the queen’s reign, could only end with the complete destruction of the other side’s faith.” And there was no respite in the conflict between the Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal and the Protestant lands of England and the Netherlands.
English privateers preyed on the merchant ships of the Spanish and Portuguese. And the powerful vessels of the Spanish and Portuguese represented a constant threat to Protestant merchants. Because of run-ins with enemies as well as endemic illness and lack of food, “only about three hundred of the five hundred men who had left Rotterdam were still alive” when the five Dutch ships arrived on the West Coast of South America after passing through the Straits of Magellan. And soon Adams’s ship was alone in the Pacific.
JAPAN BEGINS TO AWAKE
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) was the founder of the last shogunate in Japan—the Tokugawa, or Edo, shogunate (1603–1867)—which ended only with the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) that ushered Japan into the modern world. William Adams, as a close adviser of Ieyasu, helped the older man understand the global context from which Japan had been largely cut off.
It’s true, of course, that both Portuguese Jesuits and merchants as well as Dutch merchants had been visiting the islands for fifty years. But neither found it in their interest to educate the Japanese about the wider world. Adams, who was literate unlike most of his peers, was familiar with many of the books in common circulation in his time. He was more forthcoming with Ieyasu and thus played a pivotal role in helping the warlord forge a foreign policy that laid the foundation for the shogunate to last for three centuries. He also served as an interpreter for Ieyasu with the British and Dutch merchants who arrived in the years following his own arrival in Japan. And he was instrumental in securing commercial favors for them despite fierce opposition by the Jesuits.
But Adams’s relationship with Ieyasu went far deeper. He “acted as his tutor. He taught him the rudiments of geometry, mathematics and other subjects. Ieyasu, who had always shown a keen interest in learning, was delighted and grew closer to him.” And Ieyasu rewarded him with a title and lands comparable to that of an earl in his native land. But the shogun passed from the scene in 1616, and Adams survived him by only four years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frederik Cryns is a professor of Japanese history at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, in Kyoto, Japan. He has written several bestselling books in Japanese on the early interaction of the Western world with Japan. Cryns appears frequently on Japanese television history programs and served as a consultant on the FX television series, Shōgun.
The word “shogun” entered the English language in 1975 with the publication of James Clavell’s blockbuster bestselling novel, Shogun. And it gained broader attention earlier this year with the release of the 10-episode FX television series of the same name. Now, a professor of history living in Kyoto has told the true story of the real-life English pilot, William Adams, on whom Clavell based his fictional English pilot, John Blackthorne.
Frederik Cryns bases his book, In the Service of the Shogun, on primary historical sources—and it’s as exciting as the fictional retelling. It’s the true story of Shogun. Also, as Cryns notes, “Clavell only used six months of Adams’s life as a model for his novel, but the other 55 years are worth studying too.” As Cryns did, using not just English but also surviving Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish documents to piece Adams’s story together.
THE REAL-LIFE JOHN BLACKTHORNE
William Adams (1564-1620) drifted ashore in Japan in 1600, becoming the first Englishman to reach the fabled country. He had apprenticed as a shipbuilder as a boy of twelve and was the master of a supply ship for the Royal Navy during the invasion of the Spanish Armada. Soon thereafter, he trained as a pilot on merchant ships, shipping out in 1598 as a pilot major on one of five Dutch ships bound for the East Indies (present-day Indonesia).
The long voyage was more than commonly troubled, and by the time Adams made it through the Straits of Magellan, his was the only one of the five ships still afloat in the Pacific. But he and his surviving crew were blown far off course to the north, and when they reached Japan the crew was sick and dying. “There were 24 men left on board, only five of whom, including Adams, were able to walk.”
THE VOYAGE OF WILLIAM ADAMS TO THE PACIFIC
Astronauts face constant danger when they leave the surface of the Earth. But few die. Not so with the explorers of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Not just from scurvy and the powerful storms that posed a constant threat of shipwreck but also death in battle. Because low-intensity war was unending beginning during the reign of Elizabeth I.
“Before her reign,” Cryns observes, “wars between European countries had mainly been the result of rivalries between monarchs. Once one side had won, the war was over, and the aftermath was settled with the transfer of land and ransoms. But religious wars, which became more frequent during the queen’s reign, could only end with the complete destruction of the other side’s faith.” And there was no respite in the conflict between the Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal and the Protestant lands of England and the Netherlands.
English privateers preyed on the merchant ships of the Spanish and Portuguese. And the powerful vessels of the Spanish and Portuguese represented a constant threat to Protestant merchants. Because of run-ins with enemies as well as endemic illness and lack of food, “only about three hundred of the five hundred men who had left Rotterdam were still alive” when the five Dutch ships arrived on the West Coast of South America after passing through the Straits of Magellan. And soon Adams’s ship was alone in the Pacific.
JAPAN BEGINS TO AWAKE
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) was the founder of the last shogunate in Japan—the Tokugawa, or Edo, shogunate (1603–1867)—which ended only with the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) that ushered Japan into the modern world. William Adams, as a close adviser of Ieyasu, helped the older man understand the global context from which Japan had been largely cut off.
It’s true, of course, that both Portuguese Jesuits and merchants as well as Dutch merchants had been visiting the islands for fifty years. But neither found it in their interest to educate the Japanese about the wider world. Adams, who was literate unlike most of his peers, was familiar with many of the books in common circulation in his time. He was more forthcoming with Ieyasu and thus played a pivotal role in helping the warlord forge a foreign policy that laid the foundation for the shogunate to last for three centuries. He also served as an interpreter for Ieyasu with the British and Dutch merchants who arrived in the years following his own arrival in Japan. And he was instrumental in securing commercial favors for them despite fierce opposition by the Jesuits.
But Adams’s relationship with Ieyasu went far deeper. He “acted as his tutor. He taught him the rudiments of geometry, mathematics and other subjects. Ieyasu, who had always shown a keen interest in learning, was delighted and grew closer to him.” And Ieyasu rewarded him with a title and lands comparable to that of an earl in his native land. But the shogun passed from the scene in 1616, and Adams survived him by only four years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frederik Cryns is a professor of Japanese history at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, in Kyoto, Japan. He has written several bestselling books in Japanese on the early interaction of the Western world with Japan. Cryns appears frequently on Japanese television history programs and served as a consultant on the FX television series, Shōgun.
March 12, 2025
Be forewarned! This book does not tell the exciting story of Shogun with all the juicy historical facts. The events of the novel/show constitute maybe five pages of this book? The truth is that there is a reason James Clavell changed the names of all the historical characters involved.
William Adams -> John Blackthorne
Tokugawa Ieyasu -> Toranaga Yoshi
Akechi Tama -> Lady Mariko
Shogun is incredible, but it is fiction. The real life of William Adams was amazing though, and he really did become the favorite of the most powerful man in Japan, and possibly the most famous leader in Japanese history (second maybe to Oda Nobunaga).
A big criticism I have of this book is that we learn very little about Tokugawa and even less about Akechi Tama. I've heard Akechi Tama and Adams never even met, but it still would have been nice to learn a little bit about some of the major characters of the show.
Considering this book was written directly for the purpose of telling the actual history behind the show 'Shogun', it would have been nice if the book referenced the show more often and discussed which aspects were historical and which were not. Instead, this book just gives us a blow-by-blow of every detail we know about Adams's life, which is actually a considerable amount when compared to how much we know about Shakespeare, born in the same year as Adams.
Ultimately, the story of William Adams is incredible and worth knowing. As ahistorical as the novel/show is, this book does set the record straight.
William Adams -> John Blackthorne
Tokugawa Ieyasu -> Toranaga Yoshi
Akechi Tama -> Lady Mariko
Shogun is incredible, but it is fiction. The real life of William Adams was amazing though, and he really did become the favorite of the most powerful man in Japan, and possibly the most famous leader in Japanese history (second maybe to Oda Nobunaga).
A big criticism I have of this book is that we learn very little about Tokugawa and even less about Akechi Tama. I've heard Akechi Tama and Adams never even met, but it still would have been nice to learn a little bit about some of the major characters of the show.
Considering this book was written directly for the purpose of telling the actual history behind the show 'Shogun', it would have been nice if the book referenced the show more often and discussed which aspects were historical and which were not. Instead, this book just gives us a blow-by-blow of every detail we know about Adams's life, which is actually a considerable amount when compared to how much we know about Shakespeare, born in the same year as Adams.
Ultimately, the story of William Adams is incredible and worth knowing. As ahistorical as the novel/show is, this book does set the record straight.
February 29, 2024
I recently read 'Shogun' by James Clavell and thoroughly enjoyed that epic masterpiece.
In this book, Cryns takes a broader look at the life of the man who inspired Clavell's novel, William Adams. In many ways, his life was even more extraordinary than one would imagine. Cryns digs into 400 year old records to produce a clear account of Adams' life and draw a picture of the character of the man too.
Having read Shogun, this was a really interesting book to read.
In this book, Cryns takes a broader look at the life of the man who inspired Clavell's novel, William Adams. In many ways, his life was even more extraordinary than one would imagine. Cryns digs into 400 year old records to produce a clear account of Adams' life and draw a picture of the character of the man too.
Having read Shogun, this was a really interesting book to read.
August 13, 2024
Most interesting. Extremely well written, and researched. I would like to know a little bit more of the facts surrounding Adams‘s death. It seems like some thing just came on him rapidly, and that was that. The book just sort of quickly fades out at the end, and leaves me wanting to know a bit more. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
August 13, 2024
It`s not a bad book. It gets into a lot of uninteresting detail, and Japan doesn`t appear until the first quarter of the book, but it also has a lot of information about William Adams not found in other sources.
August 27, 2024
Worthwhile
It's a valuable resource for those who read the book or watched the Shogun mini series. Since it's been announced that there will be a second season of the show this book could be used to continue the story.
It's a valuable resource for those who read the book or watched the Shogun mini series. Since it's been announced that there will be a second season of the show this book could be used to continue the story.
November 13, 2025
The book is split in two, with the first half describing Adams' early life and voyage which got him to Japan, and the other mostly about the European trade in Japan when Adams acted on the behalf of one party. Unfourtantely there are no notes or proper biblography.
March 24, 2024
Very timely story
Read
November 20, 2024DNF
July 17, 2025
A good coverage of William Adams and his amazingly elevated life in 17th century Japan.
Easy reading with a surprising amount of detail.
Easy reading with a surprising amount of detail.
December 1, 2025
Quick and solid read for people who want to know the truth about the man that Shogun is based on as well as more insight into early-Edo period international relations in Japan.
December 12, 2025
I found this biography to be exhaustive, so thorough to often become redundant and, at times, boring.
Overall an extremely well researched mediocre-written biography.
Overall an extremely well researched mediocre-written biography.
July 5, 2024
The popular FX reboot adaptation of James Clavell’s much loved novel Shogun was broadcast earlier this year, 2024, to much fanfare. So, it is fitting that Frederik Cryns’ (a consultant for the TV series) biography of William Adams, In the Service of the Shogun: The Real Story of William Adams, also got its timely release this year. It is well-known that Clavell modeled his main protagonist, John Blackthorne, on the real historical figure, William Adams. In this volume Cryns, a professor of Japanese Studies at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan, gives us the first full biography of Adams. Adams lived a remarkable life as a sailor who washed ashore in Japan in 1600 and quickly became a trusted advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan’s most powerful warlord at the time. Cryns tells us Adams’s remarkable story based on original Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese sources including some previously unknown information. The first chapter, “Adams’s Early Life,” gives the foundational background information of the time and context in which Adams was born and that lead to his career as a sailor. In the next chapter, “The Disastrous Voyage of Liefde,” sees Adams hired to sail with a Dutch fleet to Asia that included the Liefde, a ship that Adams eventually found himself sailing on. Later, after a disastrous 19 months at sea, with a meager crew of 23 sick and dying men (out of the 100 who began the journey), the Liefde was finally anchored just off the coast of Kyushu in Japan in 1600. Next, in “Winning the Shogun’s Favour,” Cryns recounts how Adams’ extensive knowledge of ships, shipbuilding, and navigation appealed to Ieyasu, which lead to him becoming a trusted advisor. In the following chapter, “Shaping Ieyasu’s Foreign Policy,” suggests that among other things that Adams may have influenced Ieyasu’s decision to turn against the Christians in Japan. It was during this period that Adams was to become known as Miura Anjin and was made a hatamoto, which was a prestigious position with a yearly stipend and direct access to the shogun. It was at this time that Adams met his first Japanese wife with whom he would raise two children, Joseph and Susan. There was some talk of sending Adams off to find the Northwest Passage but that died out as Ieyasu geared up for the historical battle of Osaka. However, Adams’s influence was not to last forever. In the chapter “Waning Influence” the later years of Adams life were difficult as he struggled to keep up with the dynamic changes taking place in Japan. Adams fell out with the English and quit his position with the East India Company and came home to Japan to learn that Ieyasu had died and his son Hidetada became shogun. An era had passed, and Adams had little influence over the new leader. On May 16th Adams died leaving his possessions to both his wife and children in England as well as to his Japanese wife and children. Three years after his death the English port of Hirado was closed and no English ship arrived until 231 years later. Adams lived a remarkable life that was recounted admirably by Cryns in this slim volume. So, it is easy to see why Clavell was inspired to tell his story in his wildly successful novel, Shogun.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews