What Is “Shogun”? Everything We Know About The Series That Won At The Golden Globes

Shogun premiered on FX and Hulu with its first two episodes on February 2024, with the series releasing new episodes weekly until its conclusion on April 23.

The series is an adaptation of the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, and it’s not even the first adaptation of the work. The novel had already been adapted into a miniseries in 1980, which aired on NBC and starred Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune.

The 2024 adaptation of Shogun received considerable media attention and critical praise upon its release, with reviewers noting the strong production values, faithfulness to its historical setting, and performance of the actors. In the 2025 Golden Globes, the miniseries won four nominations, including Best Television Series – Drama, and awards for the actors Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, and Tadanobu Asano.

Shogun is based on a 1975 novel loosely inspired by historical events

James Clavell’s original 1975 novel is loosely based on the real-life accomplishments of William Adams, a British navigator who was the first Englishman to arrive on Japan’s shores. William Adams’s story was fictionalized in the novel, with the character being changed to Pilot Major John Blackthorne. Other fictionalizations done by Shogun include changing Tokugawa Ieyasu to Lord Yoshii Toranaga and Hosokawa Gracia to Toda Mariko.

William Adams was an influential figure during the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He was responsible for revamping the mercantile trade system in Japan by introducing Western-style ships and leading red seal expeditions. The Shogun miniseries is a fictionalized account of how he navigated the political complexities in Japan to rise to prominence.

However, John Blackthorne is not the only viewpoint character in the 2024 miniseries, as the Shogun also focuses heavily on the Japanese characters, including the leading figures of the Shogunate at the time. These include Lord Yoshii (played by Hiroyuki Sanada), Toda Mariko (played by Anna Sawai), Kashigi Yabushige (played by Tadanobu Asano). All three actors won Golden Globe awards for their performances.

Other major characters in Shogun include Ishido Kuzanari (played by Takehiro Hira), Father Martin Alvito (played by Tommy Bastow), and Ochiba no Kata (played by Fumi Nikaido).

Shogun’s Golden Globe winners are all Japanese actors

The awards Shogun has won at the Golden Globes have done a lot for representation of Japanese actors in Hollywood. All the Golden Globe award winners are of Japanese ethnicity, and Shogun does not shy away from portraying Japanese culture and history authentically, to the point of large sections of the series being spoken entirely in Japanese.

Shogun has drawn comparisons to medieval fantasy series such as Game of Thrones, with its unflinching look at the realities of the time. As of writing, the miniseries has a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus reading:

“Visually sumptuous and enriched with cultural verisimilitude, Shōgun is an epic adaptation that outdoes the original.”

Shogun has also been renewed for a second season, which will branch of into more original storytelling after the first season’s faithful adaptation of the 1975 novel.

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