noblewoman

Jeanne de la Motte, a noblewoman fallen on hard times, pretended to be French Queen and tricked a cardinal into giving her the necklace, without paying.

Such a malaise is natural for anyone, but Sawai may have been still letting go of Mariko, her doomed noblewoman and the heart and soul of FX’s “Shōgun.”

Foremost among them, aside from Sanada, is Anna Sawai as Mariko, a haunted noblewoman and Christian convert whom Toranaga assigns to Blackthorne as his interpreter and minder.

Kondo and Marks have recalibrated the narrative, however, moving Blackthorne’s point of view down in the mix and elevating the roles of many of the Japanese characters, particularly Toda Mariko, the noblewoman who becomes Blackthorne’s translator and love interest, and Yoshii Toranaga, the lord who both protects and manipulates him.

Sawai portrays Toda Mariko, a noblewoman and Christian convert who is called on by Toranaga to serve as an interpreter between him and his new foreign captive.