The Man in the High Castle

Study Guide

Characters

Nobusuke Tagomi

Save

Characters Nobusuke Tagomi

Nobusuke Tagomi is a devout Buddhist, which makes him very aware of the value of life. After the sudden death of the head of the Reich, a meeting is called among his colleagues at the Japanese Foreign Office to discuss the Reich Chancellor’s potential successors. As Tagomi listens to the names of each candidate—one known for his gluttonous and licentious behavior; another for leading a campaign to exterminate the African population and sterilize the Russian population; another for murdering any who oppose him—Tagomi rushes out of the meeting, overcome with emotion. For the first time, he realizes that evil exists, and this is a reality that he has to face.

Tagomi’s connection to reality, in general, is mediated through the I Ching, which he regularly consults, just as Frink does. They both balance free will and fate in making decisions. When two German SD come to kill Baynes, however, Tagomi has to make a last-minute choice whether to use the Colt .44 pistol to kill the men. He does shoot them and then collapses mentally and physically from the pressure. Tagomi cannot reconcile the paradoxical nature of killing two men to save one because his Buddhist religion considers all life sacred, making any murder unethical. Tagomi is transported to yet another reality when he’s holding Frink’s jewelry, one that looks like the modern world. He decides that he’d like to remain in his present reality, however, despite its problems.