Kasigi Omi

Kasigi Omi was a character in the novel Shōgun by James Clavell and the NBC TV miniseries based on the book. Omi was the nephew of the daimyo Kasigi Yabu.

In early 1600 Omi was in charge of the village of Anjiro. When the Dutch ship Erasmus blew ashore nearby John Blackthorne and his crew were brought ashore. With the Jesuit priest Sebastio acting as interpreter Omi demanded to know the nationality of the Englishman as well as where he was from. He decided to wait for Yabu to return before taking any action. As the group of villagers bowing in front of him got up to leave, Omi decided that one of the villagers was not being sufficiently respectful. Drawing his sword, Omi swiftly decapitated the villager, horrifying Blackthorne.

When Omi summoned Blackthorne, the Englishman replied "I piss on you and your country" to Omi's questions. Omi in response had his men force Blackthorne to the ground and then proceeded to urinate on the Englishman, humiliating him all while stating there was no cause for Blackthorne to be so rude to him.

Upon Yabu's arrival Blackthorne was taken to meet him. Father Sebastio lied to the daimyo, telling him that Blackthorne and his men were pirates. In response Blackthorne ripped Sebastio's crucifix into the ground, signifying that the two were enemies to the Japanese. Yabu wanted to put Blackthorne and his men to death right away, but Omi was able to talk him into holding off as they had a chance to observe Europeans a bit more closely.

Soon the aged General Hiromatsu arrived to assess the situation and deliver Blackthorne to Lord Yoshi Toranaga. Omi introduced Blackthorne to the General as Anjin, which was the Japanese term for a ship's pilot. Blackthorne insisted on being called Anjin-san, or Honorable Pilot. Omi accepted this request and from that day forward Blackthorne was known as Anjin-san to the Japanese.

Omi continued to serve in the armies loyal to Lord Toranaga. Omi and Blackthorne almost came to blows when Blackthorne tried to take the pistols Lord Toranaga gave him to a meeting and Omi would not have that. The situation was defused when Blackthorne's housekeeper Fujiko took the weapons and promised to keep them safe.

Blackthorne and Omi later grew to respect each other. When Omi's love interest was given as a possession to Blackthorne, Blackthorne proceeded to give her contract to Omi, allowing the two lovers to be together.

Trivia
The character of Kasigi Omi was not based on any specific individual and was an invention of James Clavell.

The scene showing Omi urinating on John Blackthorne had two firsts for American broadcast television. It was the first time the word piss was said on broadcast TV followed by urination being shown for the first time on broadcast TV when Omi did so on John Blackthorne to punish him for his statement.