Mariko summons Gyoko to secure Kiku for Blackthorne, sparring over price and leverage. After testing Gyoko’s resolve, Mariko hammers the fee down to one koban for the evening and raises the possibility of buying Kiku’s contract, exposing Gyoko’s ambitions and maternal attachment. Toranaga’s authority underpins the arrangement, and Mariko privately frames Kiku as a gift in lieu of her own forbidden feelings.

At the tea house, Gyoko and Kiku weigh the risks of entertaining a foreigner but accept, seeing Toranaga’s favor and potential fortune. Preparations whirl; Hana and Ako assist, and Gyoko dreams of selling Kiku’s contract advantageously. Meanwhile, Blackthorne agrees to be “Japanese” for the night; he visits Fujiko (recovering from burns) and then arrives with Mariko, who delights in the tea house as his interpreter and covert admirer.

Kiku greets them, tries music that fails to move Blackthorne, then brilliantly pivots to comedy and massage, relaxing him. She serves barbecued pheasant with sweet soya, and they recount the earthquake rescue. Moving to the garden pleasure room, Kiku presents an array of pillow devices—harigata, Pleasure Pearls, rings, salves—sparking humor and revelation. Blackthorne, embracing the levity, is nonetheless shaken into a raw comparison between Japan’s cleanliness and Europe’s filth and religio-social constraints.

The heavy sensual tension dissipates. In private Latin, Mariko confesses desire and symbolically gives Kiku as a substitute, yet chooses duty and leaves to protect everyone’s honor. Kiku, sensitive to the danger, refrains from pushing them together.

Alone with Kiku, Blackthorne undresses, but his craving is spent; he declines intimacy. They lie together under the net, her presence soothing him as he resolves that paradise is here in Japan, not across the sea. The night ends chaste, yet transformative.