John Blackthorne

John Blackthorne
Shōgun character
Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne with Yoko Shimada as Mariko in the 1980 Shōgun miniseries
First appearanceShōgun (novel) (1975)
Portrayed byRichard Chamberlain
Cosmo Jarvis (2024 TV series)
In-universe information
ReligionProtestant (formerly)
Shinto-Buddhist
Born1564, England
Diedc. 1620, Japan

Pilot major John Blackthorne, also known as Anjin (按針, lit. "Pilot", "Steuermann"), is the protagonist of James Clavell's 1975 novel Shōgun. The character is loosely based on the life of the 17th-century English navigator William Adams, who was the first Englishman to visit Japan. The character appears in the 1980 TV miniseries Shōgun, played by Richard Chamberlain,[1] and by Cosmo Jarvis in a 2024 series based on the book.

Cosmo Jarvis plays Blackthorne in the 2024 series.
  1. ^ "Shogun - 30th Anniversary Edition". www.dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2023-03-26.