--- title: Why This Historian Is Looking Forward to the New 'Shogun' description: Some historians criticized original novel as a text rife with errors and stereotypes, but others championed the book. canonical: https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-27T13:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:39:57.417Z article:section: History og:title: Why This Historian Is Looking Forward to the New 'Shogun' og:description: Some historians criticized original novel as a text rife with errors and stereotypes, but others championed the book. og:url: https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: shogun-fx og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why This Historian Is Looking Forward to the New 'Shogun' twitter:description: Some historians criticized original novel as a text rife with errors and stereotypes, but others championed the book. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why a Historian Is Looking Forward to the New _Shōgun_ Series > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=80a1d4af-c7bb-400d-ab7b-d809abb78d67&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=80a1d4af-c7bb-400d-ab7b-d809abb78d67&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The 6 Best New TV Shows of February 2024 [Watch (HLS stream): The 6 Best New TV Shows of February 2024](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6sfR8cBP.m3u8) (5:32)  _Published 2024-02-29. TV’s hottest month is, for some reason, February. The weeks leading up to Leap Day 2024 have brought us stunning prestige epics like Shōgun, heart-twisting romantic dramedies like One Day, cerebral sci-fi head trips like Constellation, and surprisingly fun auteur vehicles like Mr. & Mrs. Smith—plus a few under-the-radar gems that deserve more attention than they’ve gotten. Which is why there are not five but six titles in this month’s roundup of the best new shows._ by [Adam Clulow / Made by History](https://time.com/author/made-by-history/) ## Adam Clulow / Made by History Feb 27, 2024 1:00 PM UTC TV’s hottest month is, for some reason, February. The weeks leading up to Leap Day 2024 have brought us stunning prestige epics like Shōgun, heart-twisting romantic dramedies like One Day, cerebral sci-fi head trips like Constellation, and surprisingly fun auteur vehicles like Mr. & Mrs. Smith—plus a few under-the-radar gems that deserve more attention than they’ve gotten. Which is why there are not five but six titles in this month’s roundup of the best new shows. by [Adam Clulow / Made by History](https://time.com/author/made-by-history/) ## Adam Clulow / Made by History Feb 27, 2024 1:00 PM UTC The original _Shōgun_ was a rare phenomenon. More than 1,200 pages and 400,000 words in length, it proved stunningly successful, staying on the best-seller list for more than 30 weeks and selling millions of copies. The 1975 novel presented a fictionalized account of a real event: the arrival of an English pilot, William Adams, to Japan in 1600\. Clavell reimagined the story, giving his hero (whom he renamed John Blackthorne), a starring role in the archipelago’s turbulent domestic politics in the months leading up to the climactic battle of Sekigahara, which brought more than a century of constant warfare to a final end. Some historians criticized _Shōgun_ as a text rife with errors and national stereotypes. But others like Henry Smith championed the book, arguing that it conveyed “more information about Japan to more people than all the combined writings of scholars, journalists, and novelists since the Pacific War.” Five years after its publication and millions of dollars later, _Shōgun_ made its way to television screens in the form of a five-episode miniseries. It, too, was a huge hit, captivating a massive audience estimated at more than 120 million people. Even so, many fans of the novel grumbled about how it flipped the story by rendering Japan an alien, unintelligible place where Japanese dialogue was left untranslated and unsubtitled. For those historians who had defended the book, the miniseries left a bitter taste in their mouths. The imminent premiere of FX’s adaptation raises a key question. What kind of _Shōgun_ will we see? All the clues suggest a break from the 1980 miniseries and a return to what made the book so special. **_Read More:_** [_FX’s_ Shōgun _Isn’t a Remake—It’s a Revelation_](https://time.com/6692336/shogun-review-fx/) The backstory to _Shōgun_ is as compelling as the book itself. It starts in 1942 when Japanese forces captured Clavell, a young officer in the Royal Artillery. He ended up in Changi, the infamous Japanese prisoner of war camp in Singapore. Changi became the formative experience of Clavell’s life. It was, he explained, “my university instead of my prison.” It left a deep imprint. For years, Clavell carried a can of sardines with him while fighting an impulse to rummage through trash for food. And it provided the subject material for his first novel, _King Rat_, which presented a semi-fictionalized account of his experience as a prisoner of war. Strikingly, years of captivity left Clavell with no hatred. To the contrary, it instilled a deep and sustained admiration for Japan and its people. When it came to _Shōgun_, Clavell wrote what he described as a “passionately pro-Japanese” book. This perspective wasn’t evident to readers early in the book. In fact, the novel started with a highly negative depiction that showed the samurai whom Blackthorne initially encountered as brutal and unfeeling warriors who relished torture and delighted in suffering. But as the story unfolded, Clavell gradually steered his readers in a different direction as Blackthorne came first to respect and then to admire Japan as in many ways superior to Europe and the home he had left behind. What made Clavell’s novel so compelling was the fact that it was really two intertwined stories. One, which might be called _The Pilot_, told the story of the “white samurai,” in this case a European man, Blackthorne, who became a true warrior while falling in love with a Japanese woman (Mariko Toda) and transforming Japan in the process. _The Pilot_ presented a straightforward account that placed Blackthorne at the heroic center of the action (decades later _The Last Samurai_ did something similar with Tom Cruise’s character, Nathan Algren). But there was a second, arguably more interesting narrative in Clavell’s novel, which we might call _The Shōgun_. This focused on Yoshii Toranaga, the key Japanese leader in this period. It explored how Toranaga — whom Clavell modeled on the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa — outwitted and outmaneuvered bitter rivals and reluctant allies to seize power. This story addressed one of the great questions of Japanese history: how the first Tokugawa shogun was able to seize control of a famously turbulent political landscape and turn Japan from the most warlike place in the world into one of the most peaceful. Clavell didn’t present a dry history lesson — he collapsed multiple events into dramatic moments, invented conversations, and added characters — but he succeeded brilliantly in evoking the treacherous, violent, and chaotic atmosphere of this period and gave readers a sense of the remarkable figure that was Ieyasu. **_Read More:_** [Five Things to Know About the Modern Japanese Monarchy](https://time.com/5579401/japan-monarchy-emperor-abdication/) These twin stories accounted for the novel’s remarkable success in luring readers into a complex political world. In 1981, _The New York Times Magazine_ captured the addictive nature of Clavell’s novel: “‘Shogun’ readers have commonly reported becoming so engrossed in the novel that their jobs and marriages pale by comparison. At work, they hide it in desks and sneak peeks when no one is looking.” The novel’s vast popularity prompted Clavell to shop the TV rights to ABC, CBS, and finally to NBC, which signed onto the project. In 1978, he selected producer and screenwriter Eric Bercovici to transform his epic into a TV miniseries. Both men believed the visual medium required a different type of storytelling and Bercovici thought the book was too complex for a primarily American television audience. So he decided to cut the second plot line about Toranaga, opting — with Clavell’s blessing — to focus on the love story between Blackthorne and Mariko. The starting point for Bercovici’s screenplay was, quite literally, ripping out hundreds of pages from the book where Blackthorne was not present. Instead, he decided to tell the story exclusively “through Blackthorne’s eyes.” Since the main character couldn’t speak Japanese, that meant that any dialogue in Japanese would not be translated or subtitled. Bercovici feared that doing so, “would have killed the show.” In this way, the [producer was insistent](https://www.google.com/books/edition/The%5FMaking%5Fof%5FJames%5FClavell%5Fs%5FSh%C5%8Dgun/O7N6I%5FH0KFUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=The+Making+of+James+Clavell%27s+Shogun&dq=The+Making+of+James+Clavell%27s+Shogun&printsec=frontcover) that what Blackthorne “did not understand, we did not understand.” The decision to cut large parts of the novel rendered a complex story much simpler. It also turned Japan into an alien landscape and transformed Toranaga into a secondary character whose most consequential role was helping Blackthorne transition to become a true samurai. The result was, in Smith’s words, “a far less subtle, less integrated, and in the end less satisfying work than the novel on which it was based.”  The two very different stories bound together in _Shōgun_ create uncertainty about what to expect as the FX series debuts. But already trailers have given clues that the series will more closely resemble the book. Whereas previews of the 1980 miniseries focused on Blackthorne as the hero who would drive the story — “the one man with the power to change Japan’s destiny for all time” — the 2024 trailers pivot to Toranaga played by the magisterial Hiroyuki Sanada. The clips show Toranaga seated in a grand audience chamber with his retainers gathered around him. He exudes power, tapping his fingers lightly as events unfold. And crucially the Japanese dialogue is subtitled, opening up the world of Japanese politics in a way that the 1980 version so decisively shut down. We’ll know more on Feb. 27, but the early indications are that the series may return to Clavell’s original vision and put _The Shōgun_ back into _Shōgun_. _Adam Clulow is a historian whose work examines the 17th century encounter between Europe and Japan. He is the author of_ The Company and the Shogun: The Dutch Encounter with Tokugawa Japan _and_ Amboina, 1623: Conspiracy and Fear on the Edge of Empire. _Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians._ [_Learn more about Made by History at TIME here_](https://time.com/6317798/introducing-made-by-history-for-time/)_._ _Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors_. ## Transcript [00:05] Times TV critic Judy Berman breaks down her top 5 new TV shows [00:10] of February 2024 [00:20] What's up, Siri me right before the accident. [00:24] Bourbon, right Joe Erickson an astronaut played by noomi Rapace [00:28] appears to be losing her mind in the opening scenes of the gripping [00:32] Apple TV plus Thriller constellation. [00:35] Hold up in the cabin and snowy Northern Sweden with her ten-year-old [00:39] daughter Alice. Joe Dash is out into the frigid night in pursuit [00:43] of another voice screaming mama little of what we see in these [00:47] first few minutes make sense, but the disconcerting [00:50] sequence is sets up a smartly paste sci-fi epic that is as perceptive [00:55] about human psychology as it is about quantum physics. [00:59] That you to do. [01:03] software engineer [01:06] Administer single-dose. No casualties Berman rice, Donald [01:12] Glover is known as a provocateur taking aim at Heidi's around [01:16] race celebrity and the entertainment industry in dark comedies. [01:20] But he also has a romantic side. [01:22] Mr. And mrs. [01:23] Smith Glover and co-creator Francesca Sloan's reimagining [01:27] of the 2005 action romp birth. [01:30] Brangelina is his first series 24 ground that sweet or sensibility. [01:35] In fact, it's more reminiscent in tone of Ryan Johnson and Natasha [01:40] Lyonne, mostly light-hearted detective Drama T poker face, [01:44] then of its high-octane inspiration about to married assassins [01:48] who lie to each other about their professions until they're [01:50] assigned to kill one another [01:56] It's one of the great Cosmic Mysteries. [01:58] How is that someone can go from being a total stranger to being [02:03] the most important person in your life. [02:07] I'm one day on Netflix Bremen says the second coming of age that [02:12] happens in early adulthood is the subject of this charming [02:16] and perceptive Netflix dramedy. [02:18] The series is also a love story with a controversial [02:21] ending as Millions who read the mega-hit novel by David Nichols [02:25] or watched the disappointing film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway [02:29] and Jim Sturgess are already aware but it's lead writer Nicole [02:34] Taylors patient attention to the two protagonist Evolution [02:37] from wide-eyed students into adults weathered by life's vicissitudes [02:41] much more than they will there won't be a plot the defines [02:45] this lovely retelling even if you don't like the destination, [02:48] it's a journey we're taking [02:53] this is what attempts in advance for you again in a weird way. [02:57] It says humanoid alien at best friends doctors Lake and dr. [03:01] Clock are star surgeons at an Intergalactic hospital where [03:06] their challenges include defusing a literal anthropomorphics [03:10] sex-bomb. They occupy a candy colored Universe. [03:13] We're talking yellow whales are motor vehicles and Hospital. [03:17] Admin is a two-headed creature who's always playing good cop [03:20] bad cop with himself, but just like physicians in our own Public [03:23] Health Care System. [03:24] They face challenges like a bureaucracy and scant funding [03:27] and just like all of us earthlings are Rife with neuroses [03:31] from anxiety to mommy issues. [03:36] Musical [03:39] Justice [03:43] the enemies are everywhere and Friends nowhere. [03:48] To show your true heart is to risk your life for the new Shogun [03:52] is not a remake of the wildly popular 1980 mini series so much [03:56] as a radical reimagining adapted directly from James clavell, [04:00] best-selling 1975 novel this sprawling 10-part historical [04:05] drama takes a far broader view than its predecessor moving [04:09] beyond the Western outsider's perspective to survey of fracturing [04:12] Society is just as baffled by this Interlopers ways as he is by [04:17] there's it's an epic of War love Faith honor culture-clash [04:21] and political Intrigue and at a time when so many of TV's biggest [04:25] swings have yielded at least partial missus f x is Shogun [04:30] stands apart. Is it genuine masterpiece? [04:33] Do you think I can get my own sale? [04:36] I'm a danger to myself and I [04:43] I never one of them nothing but the police Berman write the best [04:47] thing to come out of Blackish Creator. [04:49] Kenya Barris is Netflix deal. [04:51] Is this semi-autobiographical comedy co-created by and starring [04:55] the rapper Vince Staples and staple his hometown of Long Beach [04:59] California. The series has a touch of Atlanta's racially [05:03] conscious surrealism and a dose of Dave's bemusement about [05:06] the Austin absurd experience of being in the celebrity. [05:09] Vince is anonymous enough to be put in jail for a traffic [05:12] violation the famous enough that a guard quotes one of his best-known [05:16] lyrics back to him. [05:17] I just five episodes some of them in less than 20 minutes [05:19] long the show offers a skewed slice of an unusual life. [05:23] That is bound to leave you wanting more. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/"},"headline":"Why a Historian Is Looking Forward to the New Shōgun Series","datePublished":"2024-02-27T13:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:39:57.417Z","description":"Some historians criticized original novel as a text rife with errors and stereotypes, but others championed the book.","url":"https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/","keywords":["Made by History","freelance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Clulow / Made by History"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9d0d2446cda2afb/698a48cd4ee262f43131caf6/shogun-fx.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"shogun-fx","caption":"Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga in Shōgun","creditText":"Kurt Iswarienko—FX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/made-by-history/","name":"Made by History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6696582/shogun-novel-series-history/","name":"Why a Historian Is Looking Forward to the New Shōgun Series"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 6 Best New TV Shows of February 2024","description":"TV’s hottest month is, for some reason, February. 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