Hiroyuki Sanada’s One Nonnegotiable for Shōgun That Made It a Masterpiece
Hiroyuki Sanada joined FX’s Shōgun on one non-negotiable condition: absolute authenticity. Ditching the 1980 adaptation’s Western gaze, he drove a Japan-first vision—language, customs, and power dynamics intact—promising a miniseries that finally tells the story on Japan’s terms.
FX's Shogun didn't just pop - it detonated, and a lot of that is because Hiroyuki Sanada drew a line in the sand before he ever stepped on set. He wasn't signing on unless the show treated Japan like Japan, not a postcard for Western daydreams. That bet on authenticity paid off big time, and now the series is gearing up for a very different Season 2 that jumps ahead a decade and reshuffles the power board.
Sanada's rule: do it right or don't do it
Sanada took the lead role of warlord Yoshii Toranaga and a producer credit for one reason - control. He'd done the Hollywood samurai circuit before, in The Last Samurai, 47 Ronin, and The Wolverine, but here he finally had the muscle to make sure Japan wasn't flattened into stereotypes. He told NPR that the 1980 miniseries version looked at feudal Japan through Western eyes; this time, he wanted the camera to look through Japanese ones and really get into the culture, language, and history.
"Authenticity was our lifeline for this show."
That ethos touched everything. Every Japanese character was played by a Japanese actor. The Japanese dialogue was period-accurate. Costumes and sets were built with obsessive historical detail. And when COVID shut down the plan to shoot in Japan, Sanada helped pivot to Vancouver - and somehow made it work. Forests, rivers, harbors... the place doubled for pre-modern Japan better than most modern Japanese locations could, simply because Japan now has modern intrusions everywhere. As he put it, Vancouver had what a samurai period drama needed.
The audience showed up. The three-episode premiere broke Disney's streaming records with 9 million views across Hulu and Disney+, according to the company. Sanada wanted to introduce this hugely popular Japanese era to the world correctly. He backed it up with the power to do it.
Season 2 isn't the book - and it's jumping ahead 10 years
Here's where things get interesting. Season 1 largely tracked James Clavell's novel. Season 2 steps off the map. Creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo told Wired they're treating it as an "experiment in subverting expectations," starting about a decade after Season 1 ends. Marks said the goal was to make the opening of Season 2 feel like the first chapter of "part 2," not a straight continuation.
What to expect next
- Time jump: About 10 years after the Season 1 finale, landing the story around 1615.
- New focal point: Fumi Nikaido's Ochiba no Kata, inspired by the real figure Yodo-Kun, moves to center stage. As the mother of the rightful heir, she's positioned to challenge Toranaga's grip on power.
- Historical flashpoint: The season is likely to sweep in major events like the Siege of Osaka, which lines up with the timeline.
- Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis are back. As for Anna Sawai's Toda Mariko, Sanada laughed off the idea of recasting - "Or twins?" - basically admitting her performance can't be replicated.
- Where it films: Vancouver doubled brilliantly for Season 1, but Sanada said at THR and SAG-AFTRA's 2024 Emmy Nominees Night that "We are finding the possibilities, of course. Not everything but maybe part of [the show]" could shoot in Japan this time.
- When it lands: FX is aiming for 2026. Filming is slated to start in early 2026, so pencil in the back half of the year at the earliest.
The bigger picture
Sanada's push for accuracy didn't just make Shogun look and feel right - it raised the bar for how American productions approach Japanese stories. The blend of rigorous detail and big-budget scale is hard to replicate, and Season 2 now has to keep that standard while venturing into new narrative territory without Clavell's roadmap.
Where to watch
All episodes of Shogun Season 1 are streaming on Hulu.