As a child, many of us remember seeing hardback copies of Shōgun on bookshelves at home. Whether or not the owners actually read James Clavell’s famously hefty novel of seventeenth-century Japan is a mystery. However, they may have watched the first television adaptation that aired on NBC in 1980. Starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, with narration by Orson Welles, this ten-hour miniseries provided a cinematic experience to American viewers, introducing them to new sights and sounds never before seen on television.
The screenwriter, Eric Bercovici, aimed to immerse viewers in the shoes of Chamberlain’s protagonist, John Blackthorne, an English ship pilot stranded in Japan with no knowledge of the local language. Unlike the original adaptation, the latest version of Shōgun that aired on FX earlier this year utilizes subtitles to bridge the language barrier and offer insights into the minds of Japanese characters.
Viewers witness the complexities of communication and cultural misunderstandings as bilingual characters interpret for Blackthorne, each with their unique motivations. The new Shōgun adaptation has garnered numerous Emmy awards, surpassing its 1980 predecessor, showcasing the evolution of television storytelling.
Despite the liberties taken in the latest adaptation, such as using English instead of Portuguese, the language of first contact between Japan and the West, viewers appreciate the exploration of cross-cultural communication and the ever-evolving expectations of television audiences.
Related Content:
– 16th-Century Japanese Historians Describe the Oddness of Meeting the First Europeans They Ever Saw
– The 17th-Century Japanese Samurai Who Sailed to Europe, Met the Pope & Became a Roman Citizen
– The History of Ancient Japan: The Story of How Japan Began, Told by Those Who Witnessed It (297-1274)
– Meet Yasuke, Japan’s First Black Samurai Warrior
– Let’s Learn Japanese: Two Classic Video Series to Get You Started in the Language
– The Entire History of Japan in 9 Quirky Minutes
– Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.
