Japan is celebrating the record-breaking Emmy Award wins of the American television series Shogun. Many Japanese, however, say they have not watched the series.
Shogun is a historical fiction that explores the country’s warring dynasties in the feudal period. It crushed all-time records at the television awards ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles, California. The series won 18 Emmys in all. And it became the first non-English-language winner of the highly sought award for best drama series.
Lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Lord Toranaga, became the first Japanese man to win an Emmy for acting. Anna Sawai became the first woman of Asian ancestry to win an Emmy for acting. She played Lady Mariko.
“As a Japanese, I’m happy Sanada won,” Kiyoko Kanda, a 70-year-old retiree, told the news group Agence France-Presse in Tokyo. “He worked so hard since he moved to Los Angeles,” she said. But she admitted that she has only watched the show’s trailer.
‘Groundbreaking’ realism key to ‘Shogun’ success
Shogun is available only on Disney’s streaming platform, which is relatively new in Japan.
“I want to watch it. I’m curious to know how Japan is portrayed,” Kanda said.
Otsuka, who chose not to give her first name, said she, too, has not watched the show. “But I saw the news and I’m happy he won.”
The 63-year-old Sanada began acting at the age of five in Tokyo. He moved to Los Angeles after appearing in Last Samurai in 2003.
Yusuke Takizawa, age 41, also saw only the trailer for Shogun. But he said he could tell the show was a high-quality production.
“I was impressed by the high-spirited acting, the attention to detail and the film technology,” Takizawa told AFP outside Osaka Castle, a major historical site where some of the story is set.
“I think many young people will want to try their hand in Hollywood after watching Sanada,” he said.
From page to film, again…
Shogun was adapted from a popular 1975 book of the same name by writer James Clavell. The series, filmed in Canada, tells the story of Lord Toranaga, who fights for his life against his enemies alongside Mariko and British sailor John Blackthorne.
A first television production of Shogun came out in 1980 and centered on Blackthorne.
The new Shogun is not. It also breaks away from years of prejudiced representations of Japan in Western entertainment media. Notably, the 2024 production is mostly in Japanese, not English.
Sanada, who also co-produced the series, is credited with bringing a new level of cultural and historical understanding to Shogun.
I’m Caty Weaver.
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Words in This Story
fiction– n. something invented by the imagination
dynasty – n. a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time
feudal – adj. of, or relating to, the system of political organization prevailing in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th centuries having as its basis the relation of lord to vassal
drama – n. a movie or television production with characteristics (such as conflict) of a serious play
trailer – n. a chosen group of scenes that are shown to advertise a movie
portray – v. to play the role of