#ochiba-no-kata

[aquitainequeen]

Reactors watching Ochiba tell Ishido that from now on, the Council of Regents will answer to her: But how does she have so much power?!?!

Me: She's one of the widows of the de facto ruler of Japan, the mother of the future de facto ruler of Japan, and while I am asexual even I can tell Ishido desires her. Next.

[dindjarism]

TODA MARIKO and OCHIBA-NO-KATA SHŌGUN | 1.09 Crimson Sky

[maxanor]

It was written by my friend.

SHŌGUN (2024) Chapter Ten: A Dream of a Dream

[ariadnethedragon]

SHŌGUN (2024)

Chapter 9: Crimson Sky

[redsamuraiii]

Lady Ochiba Costume Design by Carlos Rosario

Lady Ochiba was all about power and wealth. The number of layers, her cotton tabis and her luxurious fabrics determined her higher rank.

[yocalio]

SHŌGUN Chapter Ten: A Dream of a Dream

[meikuree]

it’s insane to me that mariko and ochiba no kata/ruri are explicitly said by the creators and the characters themselves to have grown up very close, ‘like sisters’, and it’s implied they were closer than ochiba was to her actual blood sister (which was normal in terms of family dynamics and given their circumstances, I know, but still). their relationship might just be the most Homoerotic thing in the show, by pure accident, because it’s so intense and Fated that even the absence of any hint of romantic/sexual feeling ironically just magnifies how much their bond is too big to be captured by any conventional framework or labels. and I like this invention of their backstory from the original novel, it’s given ochiba lots more interiority and it’s a grounded and subtle means of saying More about them without having to spell it out. I really appreciate that their history is staged as an Entirely Platonic and Sisterly dynamic but one that had a deep formative influence on both of them, that lasted through all their years apart, right through to the tragic culmination of them as rivals.

the scene where Mariko walks into a room full of men baying for the blood of her lord/her by extension and is instead 100% focused on ochiba no kata, the only other woman in the room, whom she trusts to recognise the challenge she’s trying to pose, sent chills through me. their bond is the hidden fulcrum of the political machinations the show dwells on, more so than any number of the show’s political marriages or more conventional and visible means of politicking the many men in Shogun have, and the creators have touched on that in a similar register.

[shenzhiheng]

Shōgun (2024) | Episode 6 | Ladies of the Willow World

[firelise]

What does it mean? "On a leafless branch?" It was written by my friend. The one who was just buried? Yes. So we must finish the poem.

SHŌGUN (2024)

[cassianandfenrysaremyboyos]

Trying not to think too hard about Lady Ochiba making sure Mariko got the burial she deserved, and finishing the poem, with Mariko's own words, because my heart is already too broken and thinking about that show of love from Ochiba, even after everything that came between them makes me want to cry

[dykesynthezoid]

Me watching this show but I just keep going “I love women” every five minutes despite the fact the majority of the important characters are men

[lands-of-fantasy]

Shōgun (2024)

[dindjarism]

TODA MARIKO and OCHIBA-NO-KATA SHŌGUN | 1.09 Crimson Sky

[maxanor]

Have you heard what I went through to give the Taikō a son? No one else could achieve it. Hundreds of women…consorts… Not Daiyoin… Daiyoin…who drugged me with bitter herbs, forced me to endure unmentionable things in order to conceive.

SHŌGUN (2024–)

[floater0352]

One of my first (but hopefully not last) contributions to the emerging trivia on Shôgun:

Lady Ochiba / Ruri, the mother of the Taiko's heir Yaechiyo, is based on Lady Yodo/Chacha (1569-1615), niece to Oda Nobunaga and second spouse of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. We see her here as the primary moving force shoring up her son's position and the patron of Toranaga's rival Ishido.

Fumi Nikaido as Lady Ochiba, Shôgun, 2024

What makes the casting of this one very interesting is that Fumi Nikaido has played the actual role of Yodo/Chacha in a similar period production, the 2014 NHK taiga drama Gunshi Kanbei (which was primarily about Kuroda Kanbei, the strategist of Hideyoshi played by Junichi Okada).

Fumi Nikaido as Yodo, Gunshi Kanbei, 2014

While there's enough hype for Toranaga (especially as he is portrayed by public favorite and producer Hiroyuki Sanada--rightfully so), I wish to highlight Fumi Nikaido's return to this role as it does help highlight the differences between how Lady Yodo is portrayed in fiction. (It does help that we have no shortage of it now--even if it's mostly in videogames like Samurai Warriors, Sengoku Basara or the more historically-faithful Nioh).

The material we have of Lady Ochiba so far is of a proud, haughty, even disrespectful woman--and perhaps it's not exactly far off from how Chacha is portrayed even in Japanese media. To some extent, even Gunshi Kanbei conceded to this especially in the episodes I'm referring with this photo--what with it precisely being the moment Yodo is fearing coming to pass. A mother seeking to protect her son's patrimony (and by extension, her agency and regency), it's a universal trope in feudal drama. What Shôgun does not give her yet (but Gunshi Kanbei took pains to establish) is the recognition that she is as much a victim of the warring era, turning her into a self-loathing monster only able to survive trying to make sense of it all, and maybe recover their agency in it. Clavell rightfully gave it to his main focus character, Lady Mariko (played very layered and well by Anna Sawai compared to her more recent outings--herself based on Hosokawa Gracia).

It truly amazes me that 10 years has yet to make much of a difference for Fumi Nikaido and this role. The woman whose position at the top was only made possible by misery and her playing by the cruel game of chaos, she portrays both versions with the edge, anxiety and palpable will of a woman who's lost everything before and is at the doorstep of losing them again.

[redsamuraiii]

The Ladies Costume Design by Carlos Rosario

Unique and beautiful in their own ways, each highlights their character and personality, and reflects their occupation and position.