The Real History Behind FX’s ‘Shogun’ full move

A new adaptation offers a fresh take on James Clavell’s 1975 novel, which fictionalizes the stories of English sailor William Adams, shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and Japanese noblewoman Hosokawa Gracia When a powerful Japanese feudal lord with aspirations of seizing control of the warring nation learned that a ragged group of European sailors had landed on the archipelago’s southern shores in April 1600, he was eager to arrange a meeting with their leader. The outsiders, Tokugawa Ieyasu believed, could be of assistance in his grand plan. With the Dutch ship’s captain too ill to move, the crew sent English navigator William Adams in his place. “Coming before [Ieyasu], he viewed me well and seemed to be wonderfully favorable,” wrote Adams in a letter to his wife. “I showed unto him the name of our country, and that our land long sought out the East Indies, and desired friendship with all kings and potentates in way of merchandise, having in our land diverse commodities which these lands had not.” While Adams’ relationship with Ieyasu was far from the most consequential in Japan’s history of European relations, the pair’s novelty and unlikely dynamic had a comparatively outsized cultural impact. This story of the first Englishman to visit Japan has inspired an array of dramatic works, most notably James Clavell’s 1975 best-selling novel, Shogun, and its 1980 mini-series adaptation, which became a nationwide sensation in the United States. Forty-four years after the “Shogun” mini-series earned NBC its highest Nielsen ratings yet, a new version offers a contemporary twist on the tale. As Gina Balian, co-president of FX Entertainment, tells Variety, “When you’re taking on an adaptation of something that’s already been adapted, there has to be a reason why.” She adds, “We got more comfortable with needing to tell [the story] as much from the Japanese side, casting Japanese-speaking actors. We evolved as the project evolved.” Here’s what you need to know about the real history behind FX’s “Shogun” ahead of the limited series’ two-episode premiere on Hulu on February 27. An Australian-born British expatriate who ultimately settled in the U.S., Clavell rose to prominence as a screenwriter in the 1950s and early 1960s. His first book, King Rat (1962), fictionalized his time as a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp during World War II—an experience he would later refer to as his “Genesis.” Clavell started looking into Adams’ life after coming across a line in one of his daughter’s textbooks: “In 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai.” He spent two years researching the region’s history and culture before starting to write Shogun, striving for historical accuracy while also embracing the more fantastical elements of the story.