Actor Chamberlain revisits Japan of long ago

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

"Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire" focuses on Toyotomi Hideyoshi, left, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, right, two key historical figures. Shunji Jonoshita 'Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire' PBS Hawaii 8 tonight Narrated by Richard Chamberlain; three hours total

Cramming some 300 years into three taut, engaging hours, the PBS special is shorter, truer and — depending on your sensibilities — more or less shocking than "Shogun," the 1980 miniseries that dramatized the same era of Japanese history and starred a younger, hairier Chamberlain.

"I know a fair amount about this period of Japanese history, but this documentary has far more detail," says Chamberlain, the show's narrator. "It's fascinating stuff."

In three one-hour episodes, "Japan" traces the arrival of foreigners to Japan and the ascension to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early 16th century, the imposition of a rigid social order, and an amazing 265-year, self-imposed isolation from the rest of the world that led to a renaissance of Japanese culture and art.

"The opening and shutting of the country was really quite extraordinary," Chamberlain says.

"It was an amazing feat to accomplish in an age without the Internet, telephones or cable. The initial welcoming of Christianity, the realization that there were certain disadvantages to that politically, and then the throwing out of the missionaries — it was incredible."

Chamberlain said he is also fascinated by the extent of centralized power in the Japan of that era — socially and politically.

"Japanese life was very minutely prescribed," he said. "There were rules and customs associated with class. I suppose they gave people a level of comfort, but there was no upper mobility."

The special is divided into three parts: "The Way of the Samurai," which marks the arrival of Portuguese missionaries and Tokugawa's rise to the rank of shogun; "The Will of the Shogun," which explores Tokugawa's effort to apply samurai ethics to create a peaceful society; and "The Return of the Barbarians," which looks at the flowering of intellectual and artistic pursuits and the eventual forced end of Japan's isolation as demanded by Commodore Matthew Perry.

The special was filmed where the events actually happened.

"There are a great many woodcuts and block prints that are just wonderful," says Chamberlain, himself a painter of note. "The depictions of war are so beautiful in their detail and accuracy. The simplicity, the angular oppositions are highly influential in western art and vaguely present in my own work."

Chamberlain's characteristically smooth narration belies what he says were "many, many hours of trying to get it right.

"I suspect I'm slightly dyslexic," he says. "My reading skills are minimal, and I'm not terribly good at reading aloud. It takes me a while."

Reach Michael Tsai at 535-2461 or mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.