The World Does Not Only Speak English – Shōgun (2024)
By Ben Bryant, Third Year History
Content Warning: This article contains discussion of ritual suicide.
On Sunday the 15th of September, at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, the 2024 Emmy Awards began. Across its three hours and eight minutes of runtime, almost seven million people tuned in and watched Shōgun, the most recent adaptation of James Clavell’s historical drama, make history. Its 18 awards, among 25 nominations, mark a new record for the most Emmys awarded to a single television season. Standouts include the series being the first non-English language series to win Outstanding Drama Series, lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada being the first Japanese actor to win lead actor in a drama, and Anna Sawai being the first Asian actress to win lead actress in a drama. But why is this so significant, and what does the 2024 adaptation do so differently from the original novel and the 1980 miniseries?
Originally released in 1975, James Clavell’s Shōgun tells the semi-fictional story of Pilot Major John Blackthorne, real name William Adams. After his ship washes up on the coast of Izu, Blackthorne finds himself in the middle of various conflicts. On the one hand, you have the encroaching Portuguese Catholics, monopolising the European trade networks with Japan, and on the other, you have the dynastic clashes within.
At the tail end of the Warring States period, Shōgun delivers a complex, political tale of Blackthorne’s impact on the man, Yoshii Toranaga (real name Ieyasu Tokugawa) who would eventually begin the new shogunate and Blackthorne’s rise to hatamoto, or bannerman. John Blackthorne, known as Anjin, is the focal point of Shōgun, or at least, that’s the focus of the novel and its first adaptation.
Between September 15th and 19th 1980, five years after the original novel's release, the first adaptation of Shōgun was broadcast. Richard Chamberlain stars as Blackthorne, whilst Toshiro Mifune, perhaps best known for his 16 films with Akira Kurosawa, is the titular Shōgun and Yoko Shimura is Mariko, an interpreter for Toranaga who harbours a past shrouded in political intrigue. Whilst a good piece of entertainment, and a faithful adaptation, Shōgun (1980) has two key differences from its modern counterpart.
Firstly, like the original novel, the series spends most of its runtime with Blackthorne as its centrepiece. Almost no Japanese dialogue is subtitled as Blackthorne is partly meant to serve as an insert character for the viewer, if he does not understand the language, neither do you. This could work until it doesn’t. Blackthorne, during his time in Japan, slowly acclimatises to the culture and language that he finds strange and alien. So why, pray tell, when he later begins to understand the language and is present in the scenes, do we receive the narration of Orson Welles rather than subtitles? On top of this, scenes are also not subtitled when Blackthorne is not present, which is both bizarre and almost negates the immersion argument. An interesting creative decision, but its effectiveness is up for debate.
And secondly, without spoiling too much, the other slightly less important difference comes down to firepower. In a scene in both the novel and the 1980 adaptation, Blackthorne teaches the army of Toranaga the power of muskets. Yet, Toranaga would have grown up with muskets and cannons as they were introduced to Japan nearly 60 years previously by the Portuguese. So, how did the 2024 adaptation change this? Tactics and chain shot.
The chain shot was a form of cannon shot made up of two small cannonballs, tied together with a chain or solid bar, designed to take out the mast of a ship. And who was this popular with at the time but the English navy. Thus, in the 2024 version, on top of a “so what, we already have those” response to the introduction of guns and cannons, Blackthorne is instead tasked with teaching cannon tactics and the power of the chain shot to Toranaga’s men.
The 2024 adaptation of Shōgun, is what I honestly believe to be the best way to experience the story. Yes, Clavell’s original novel is a thrilling read, brimming with detail and passion, and yes, the 1980 adaptation is a classic piece of television. But FX’s recent adaptation goes even further beyond. The series may begin with Blackthorne, here portrayed brilliantly by Cosmo Jarvis, as the front-and-centre protagonist, but as the story deepens and the world progresses, a vast change is revealed. The story of Shōgun in 2024 is not primarily a story of an Englishman in a new land, it is a story of Japan and its people.
Whilst the 1980 adaptation made its creative decision to put the viewer firmly in the shoes of Blackthorne, FX’s Shōgun casts that firmly overboard, subtitling every piece of Japanese dialogue and placing its Japanese characters, particularly Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, at the forefront of the tale. The series still takes its liberties, particularly lacking the inclusion of Portuguese in favour of English and the sometimes-overdramatic inclusions of seppuku or ritual suicide, but the extensive work done on translation to depict the world of late-16th Century Japan is simply great. Viewers no longer have to have all the events presented via Blackthorne, and can instead immerse themselves in the fantastic cast, and the political schemes of both protagonists and antagonists.
The production of Shōgun (2024) and its dedication to cultural accuracy are reflected in its awards and critical acclaim. The latest and greatest adaptation sets a standard for cross-cultural representation, whilst still making its history entertaining. As with all historical fiction, liberties are taken, but Shōgun (2024) prioritises accessibility and respect. As, after all, what point is there in history, in our work, if it does not mean something to the greatest number of people? Shōgun (2024) currently stands as the second highest-rated show of 2024 according to IMDb (2024), surpassed only by the similarly brilliant anime One Piece. This is a clear demonstration to the media industry that there is a place in popular culture for shows in languages other than our own.
In our era of conflict, strife and sometimes superficial diversity, the success story of Shōgun (2024) invites us to reflect on transnational experiences and histories, as, after all, the world does not only speak English.
To see Shōgun’s huge successes this year, head to: https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners
Edited by William Budd