‘Shogun’ took a decade to adapt a samurai classic without stereotypes: ‘I wanted to fix all that’, says Sanada Hiroyuki

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New adaptation of James Clavell’s book, which premieres this Tuesday (27), promoted protagonist to producer to help with authenticity: ‘I felt the limits of saying something as an actor’. Sanada Hiroyuki explains his role as producer in ‘Shogun’ It took ten years for the series “Shogun: The Glorious Saga of Japan” to get off the ground. When it premieres this Tuesday (27), the new adaptation of the classic book of the same name written by James Clavell aims to update the discussion about the encounter between the West and Japan with its plot about power struggles and intrigues between samurai. To avoid stereotypes and increase authenticity, the couple of creators and people responsible for the version, Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, first called on Sanada Hiroyuki (“The Last Samurai”) to play the protagonist. Years later, they invited him to be one of the producers. A specialist in the genre, the actor has been fighting for years to improve the way his country’s culture is portrayed in Hollywood. With a behind-the-scenes leadership role for the first time in his long career, he finally feels comfortable acting more directly. “Sometimes there are mistakes with our culture. Or some audiences love stereotypical Japanese characters or habits, things like that. But, in the 21st century, I wanted to fix all that for our generation,” says Sanada in an interview with g1. Watch the video above. “I tried to correct our culture in every film or TV series, but I felt the limits of saying something as an actor. That’s why, this time, I have the title of producer. It means a lot to me.” The first two episodes premiere this Tuesday on the Disney+ and Star+ video platforms (whose catalogs will join in 2024). The remaining eight will be released weekly. Sanada Hiroyuki in a scene from ‘Shogun: The Glorious Saga of Japan’ Gaiato Publicity in Japan Just like in the book, “Shogun” follows the story of a British pilot (Cosmo Jarvis) who arrives in 17th century feudal Japan determined to end the monopoly of the Portuguese (enemies of England) on trade with the country. Captured and completely ignorant of local customs and politics, he finds himself in the middle of a power struggle between five powerful lords in a vacuum left by the absence of a “shogun” – the nation’s military leader and real political authority. Under the guardianship of the most powerful of them (Sanada) and without speaking a word of Japanese, the foreigner approaches his translator (Anna Sawai) and, over time, proves to be a powerful ally. Shakespeare samurais Therefore, the language is central to the plot. The Japanese dialogue was kept in the local language, but what was portrayed in English was actually supposed to be Portuguese – a common liberty in Hollywood. As a producer, Sanada managed to hire Japanese members of the team and take them to Canada, where the recordings took place. Specializing in samurai dramas, they helped develop costumes, sets, hairstyles and even language worthy of the time. “A samurai’s way of speaking is like Shakespeare’s English. Sometimes, it’s very difficult to understand. That’s why we adopted a better balance. In the classical way, but easy to understand, but without being too modernized,” says Sanada. “Even with the subtitles, maybe the audience can feel if it makes sense for the time period, or the character, or the situation. You know, even without understanding the meaning, people can feel if it’s appropriate or not.” Anna Sawai in a scene from ‘Shogun: The Glorious Saga of Japan’ Disclosure Translator Alongside the veteran, Sawai (“Fast and Furious 9”) is another with experience in Hollywood. Born in New Zealand to Japanese parents, she speaks both languages ​​fluently – which allowed her to reflect her character in real life. “As someone who knows both cultures, it was wonderful to see them joining forces, because Japanese people can do it their way and it’s beautiful, but we were doing something new,” says the actress. “I hope I did my part, because some of the Japanese team members didn’t speak English, and there were a lot of translators, but sometimes I thought it was easier for me to just translate and kind of act like Mariko. That was really fun.” Post-sushi Marks became involved in the project in 2018, following the success of the launch of his spy series, “Counterpart”, and his script for “The Jungle Book” (2016). With no family connection to Japan, he thought it would be strange to direct a second adaptation of the work. The first, a 1980 miniseries, became a huge cultural landmark in the United States. Starring Mifune Toshiro, muse of director Kurosawa Akira (“The Seven Samurai”) and one of the most celebrated samurai interpreters in cinema (Sanada’s favorite, in fact), the production is considered to this day as one of the great hits of American television . Cosmo Javis in a scene from ‘Shogun: The Glorious Saga of Japan’ Disclosure “I don’t think any series could live up to that success. The original miniseries had 120 million viewers”, says Marks. “We really live in an incredibly dispersed, intersectional culture that we’re trying to make this story for. People with a wide variety of points of view coming to this story from countless different places. I think in some ways this conversation can be infinitely more interesting because of it.” He only agreed to take part after his wife, Kondo, found the book and became obsessed with the work. “What’s so cool about it is that it really feels like we’re in a time where today’s generation might not know why there’s a sushi restaurant on every corner now,” says the American writer with a Japanese family. “They might not understand that it wasn’t always like this, right? So it’s an ideal time to revisit this iconic event and kind of ask the same questions again. Because they are, at the end of the day, timeless.”

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