I found the book after watching the original miniseries on T.V. Made a huge impression on my 10 year old mind. I still read it every few years going on 40 years later.
The descendants of Mariko's model, Garasha Hosokawa, include several famous people in modern Japan. One of them is the current Emperor of Japan. The place where the army led by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the model for Toranaga, was born is a region called Mikawa. The automobile manufacturer born in Mikawa is TOYOTA. It is often said that the strength of Tokugawa's corps was inherited by TOYOTA as a company.
Such a beautiful episode. I squeaked when I got up and saw your post. I've definitely been anticipating y'all's reaction to the penultimate and the finale.
Thanks guys! A truly great episode but, not having read the book, it wasn't what I was expecting from "Crimson Sky". My first surprise was when I saw that Hiroyuki Sanada's name did not appear in the opening credits. A "Crimson Sky" without Toranaga? But who needed Toranaga, Anna Sawai owned this episode, what a wonderful performance. And Yabushige (agree he has the best grunts) finally picked a side, albeit he choose it to save his own life and Mariko's death was not intended. Of course it was the wrong one. Looking forward to seeing your reactions to the finale and if your predictions are accurate.
