Shōgun Trivia | 35 facts about the epic mini series

“Shōgun” is a new adaptation of the best-selling novel by James Clavell streaming on Hulu.

Let’s find out some trivia and facts about the series.

1. Shōgun is an American historical drama television limited series
2. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell
3. The novel was previously adapted into a 1980 television miniseries
4. The series is set to premiere with its first two episodes on February 27, 2024, on Hulu and FX
5. With new episodes of the 10-episode series then releasing weekly
6. Shōgun follows the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai
7. John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him
8. Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals
9. Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance
10. Clavell’s Shōgun is a fictionalized version of real events and history
11. The character of Blackthorne is loosely based on the historical English navigator William Adams
12. In Japan he rose to become a samurai under the strongest powerful daimyo and later the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu
13. His life and reign lasted from 1543 to 1616
14. And on whom Shogun’s character Yoshii Toranaga is based
15. During the Television Critics Association’s annual summer press tour in August 2018, FX announced it would make a new adaptation of the 1975 novel Shōgun by James Clavell
16. It had given the production a straight-to-series order
17. Executive producers were expected to include Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Michael De Luca, Michaela Clavell, Tim Van Patten, Eugene Kelly, and Ronan Bennett
18. Rachel Bennette is set as a supervising producer
19. Tom Winchester as a producer, Georgina Pope as a co-producer, and Eriko Miyagawa as an associate producer
20. Patten will also direct the series, and Bennett will also write
21. FX Productions is slated to serve as the production company for the series. Sanada serves as a producer
22. Principal photography for the series was scheduled to commence in March 2019 in Japan and the United Kingdom,[18] but was delayed because the network felt that the production wasn’t in good enough shape and that they wanted to aim higher.[19] Star Hiroyuki Sanada did a single day of filming in 2019 in order for FX to retain the rights to the property as the series was being retooled.[20]
23. In January 2020, it was revealed that after original writer Ronan Bennett was no longer available to keep working on scripts
24. They started over from scratch with new writer and executive producer Justin Marks, working alongside his wife, supervising producer Rachel Kondo
25. The series’ writing team also includes co-executive producer Shannon Goss, consulting producer Matt Lambert, script editor Maegan Houang, and staff writer Emily Yoshida
26. On September 22, 2021, principal photography for the series began in Vancouver, the United Kingdom, and Japan
27. Lasting until June 30, 2022
28. This was a full two months longer than expected
29. A Japanese pine tree used on set was donated and planted after filming to the City Hall of Port Moody
30. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% rating
31. Based on 34 critics
32. The website’s critics consensus is, “Visually sumptuous and enriched with cultural verisimilitude, Shōgun is an epic reimagining that outdoes the original”
33. On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 83 out of 100
34. Based on 22 critics
35. Indicating “universal acclaim”