Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shogun. The FX streaming series centers more of the story on the Japanese characters than the original NBC miniseries. Sanada served as a producer on film and advised the cast and crew on period authenticity.

Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shogun. The FX streaming series centers more of the story on the Japanese characters than the original NBC miniseries. Sanada served as a producer on film and advised the cast and crew on period authenticity. / FX

When Shogun, James Clavell's best selling novel was adapted into a powerhouse NBC miniseries in 1980. The hero of the story was Englishman John Blackthorne.

The people he met when he landed in Japan in search of riches, are viewed and portrayed as primitive.

In the 2024 Shogun adaptation the Japanese characters are fully formed. The series elevates the stories of the Japanese characters as much as it does the Blackthorne's.

That was a deliberate decision on the part of Shogun co-creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks.

In the 1980 version of Shogun, Japan, its culture and its people were portrayed as foreign and remote. What do we lose when stories are only told from one point of view? And what can be gained when we widen the lens?

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