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Review: Shogun Is Great TV — But It’s Not About Colonialism
The 2024 Shogun TV series stacks up pretty well to history, says a Japanese historian — but don’t get things twisted.
With the release of the new Shogun series from FX, a lot of people want to know two things: (1) is it good television, and (2) is it good history? As an academic historian in Japan, I say you can enjoy both the story and the real history behind it. You just have to separate them from one another.
Separating fiction from fact
In the academic world, I study the contact between Japan and Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. For general audiences, I work on everything that has to do with Japanese history in general and the samurai in particular.
So, since FX announced the new version of Shōgun, many people have asked me about it. in fact, I’ve ended up watching it every week live on YouTube. (I invite you to join us if you understand Spanish.)
When a fictional product is based on (or inspired by) real historical events, everyone always wants to know how much it resembles those facts. Many are eager to point an accusing finger at any anachronism or slip-up, à la Nelson Muntz.
