Shōgun: 6 lesser-known facts about the critically-acclaimed TV show

The Shōgun series finale premiered this week. The FX original series garnered universal acclaim for its compelling story, gripping performances, and captivating exploration of Feudal  Japan. Fans of the series have called it Game of Thrones meets Ghost of Tsushima and some even feel that it could go on to be the best TV show of 2024! All 10 episodes of the miniseries are available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar in India. If you loved Shōgun or if it’s part of your binge list, we recommend you check out these lesser-known facts about this epic historical fiction in today’s Now You Know podcast.

1. Shōgun has a mesmerising opening credit sequence that features a modified zen garden. Zen gardens were originally created by Zen Buddhist monks in the late sixth century for meditation and contemplation. Zen gardens are used as storytelling devices in the series to serve as vital allegories to explore various themes.
2. Cosmo Jarvis plays one of the lead roles as the English navigator, John Blackthorne. Showrunner Justin Marks and director Jonathan van Tulleken were impressed by Jarvis’s performance in the 2019 British crime drama Calm with Horses leading them to cast him in Shōgun. Jarvis plays the lead as a conflicted enforcer of a drug cartel in Calm with Horses.
3. Anna Sawai plays arguably the most pivotal character in the series, Lady Mariko. One of her most iconic scenes is featured in the penultimate episode when she confronts and outwits the conniving Lord Ishido, played by Takehiro Hira. The two actors recently starred together as father and daughter, Hiroshi and Cate Randa, in the Apple TV+ original series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
4. The series is adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 epic novel of the same name. But this is not the first time the novel has been adapted for a TV mini-series. There is also a 1980 series starring Richard Chamberlain, written by Eric Bercovici, and directed by Jerry London which was adapted from the same novel.
5. While both TV adaptations are labelled as historical fiction, the characters in the story are based on real historical figures. John Blackthorne is based on the exploits of William Adams, a ship’s pilot who was shipwrecked on the shores of Japan in 1600 and became the first Englishman to make contact with Japan. The story’s central character Lord Yoshii Toranaga, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, is based on Tokugawa Leyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Tokugawa Leyasu’s rise to power as Japan’s Shōgun, or military ruler, marked the beginning of the Edo period in Japan. Similarly, most of the pivotal characters in the story are based on real individuals.
6. The series is helmed by the husband-wife duo of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, with Michaela Clavell serving as executive producer. Michaela Clavell is the daughter of the novel’s author James Clavell. But did you also know that she is also a former Bond girl? She starred in a minor role in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy as Penelope Smallbone alongside Sir Roger Moore.

Well that's all for this episode, until the next time it's your host Nikhil signing out.

Aaj kya dekhoge OTTplay se poocho

• Written by Ryan Gomez