How 1980’s “Shogun” Was Fairly Loyal to Japan

Paramount Television Shogun was arguably the original international event series. The five-part television adaptation of James Clavell’s sprawling 1975 novel of the same name became a pop culture sensation when it aired on NBC in 1980, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series and the Golden Globe for Best television series in the drama category.

Just like FX and Hulu update Shogun adaptation released in February, the original limited series was a huge turning point, both in terms of budget and production values. Starring Richard Chamberlain and Japanese cinema icon Toshiro Mifune, the series’ six-month shoot in Japan was initially budgeted at $12 million, but ballooned to $22 million ($83.7 million in today’s dollars), becoming the most expensive television series ever made at the time. Some aspects of the original haven’t aged so well — THR‘s review noted how difficult it was for the show’s Japanese actors to “come off as much more than scowls”, thanks to the decision not to translate any of the Japanese dialogue, which in turn focused the story exclusively on the perspective of Chamberlain’s Western character. – but the visual recreation of feudal Japan in the series was second to none. To this day, the 1980 version remains the only American television show to have been filmed entirely in Japan (the FX adaptation filmed in Canada to take advantage of a tax break). The show featured hundreds of Japanese extras and benefited from local expertise in creating period-accurate sets, costumes and cultural details. Costume designer Shin Nishida would become the first Japanese artist to win an Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design, and THR‘s review singled out several other Japanese teams—production designer Shoichi Yasuda, art director Yoshinobu Nishioka, and makeup artist Masato Abe—for their contributions to Shogun“the great visual experience”.

Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, co-creators of 2024 Shogun, were praised for righting the wrongs of the previous version by illuminating the inner world of the Japanese characters. But the duo’s approach also began with getting the ravishing visual details of vintage Japan. “Our strategy was pretty simple,” Kondo said THR earlier this year: “Empower the people who actually know what’s authentic, then listen to them. »

This story first appeared in a June standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.