A star of FX’s new epic drama series Shōgun explains how the show’s period-correct Japanese language is different from how people speak today.
A star of Shōgun explains how the show’s period Japanese is different from today’s. Based on the novel by James Clavell, FX’s series takes viewers back to 1600s Japan for the epic tale of a clash of civilizations. The novel was previously adapted for television in the 1980s, but the new series prides itself on offering a sense of exacting period detail that was not featured in the earlier version.
Shōgun cast member Anna Sawai indeed offered an example of the show’s attention to detail during a recent Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance, explaining how the Japanese spoken on the series is much more formal and long-winded than the Japanese spoken in the modern day. Check out Sawai’s remarks below (around 2:00 of the clip):
I speak better Japanese, so yes, it is fluent. But in the show we speak period Japanese. So I had to do that and then do a sort of British accent. … So for instance, if it was, “Where’s the water? This is the water.” we would just say in modern language [a phrase in Japanese]. But it would become [a longer phrase in Japanese]. So it’s a lot more long.
How Authentic Is FX’s Shōgun?
Authentic period detail is a big selling point for FX’s Shōgun. Speaking recently to Salon.com, star Hiroyuki Sanada spoke about the importance of getting things right in depicting 1600s Japan. He talked about the show’s commitment to not “modernizing” or “Westernizing” its story, explaining how using a Japanese crew helped in getting things right:
In addition to costumes, props and other aspects of physical reality, Shōgun meticulously captures the social order of feudal Japan, depicting the time period’s hierarchical system with its various ranks, from the emperor all the way down to the Ronin. The Shōgun story may indeed be fictionalized, but it takes its inspiration from real events, basing its Council of Regents on Japan’s real Council of Elders, while drawing upon true facts about Japan’s complex relationship with 17th Century Europe, when multiple nations vied for dominance in the region.
Scholars and experts will find things to nitpick about in Shōgun, as they do with all period shows, but they can’t quibble with the amount of effort that has been put into getting things right. Not only are the costumes, social order and politics period-accurate, but so too is the more formal and wordy version of Japanese spoken by the characters, as Sawai ably demonstrates.
