Game of Thrones in Feudal Japan.
English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) first views 1600 Osaka’s harbour from the deck of Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada)’s galley in FX’s epic Shōgun series.
Adapted from James Clavell’s bestselling 1975 novel, Shōgun charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai.
Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Toranaga, ,Cosmo Jarvis as English pilot John Blackthorne and Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko.
Why didn’t Shōgun film in Japan? There isn’t enough open, undeveloped land and it turns out coastal British Columbia is “a very good match” for 1600 Japan, according to Shōgun co-creator Justin Marks.
Related: FX’s Shōgun Series: Where Did It Film in British Columbia?
Port Moody on Burrard Inlet east of Vancouver plays Osaka harbour in 1600.
The closed Flavelle sawmill on the Port Moody waterfront was transformed into Osaka harbour. Crew built jetties into the water and humble fishermen’s houses that wrapped around the inlet. A red X marks the set.
It had been a man-man inlet made for a cedar factory that had closed ten years ago. This plot was large and had old lumber mill equipment, and the owners let us have the lot for a year. — production designer Helen Jarvis told Variety.
The Osaka docks in Port Moody.
Portuguese-born Canadian actor.Louis Ferreira’ is Captain of the Black Ship.
Osaka docks under construction at closed sawmill.
Security gate at Osaka set in Port Moody.
During Lord Toranaga’s escape from Osaka Castle, Mariko (Anna Sawai)’s husband Buntaro is left behind fighting on the docks and dies an honourable samurai death.
Osaka docks at Port Moody.
The Boat Race:
With small Catholic Japanese fishing boats blockading Osaka’s harbour, Lord Toranaga’s galley won’t get through so a deal is made with the Portuguese for Toranaga’s party to board the Black Ship.
John Blackthorne is left behind on the galley.
Related: Shōgun Frenemies John Blackthorne & Vascos Rodrigues
Never one to accept his fate, Blackthorne steers the galley alongside the Black Ship, piloted by his frenemy Vascos Rodrigues (Nestor Carbonell).
The ships that we got to steer were just massive. Even the green screens were 100 feet tall. I think they were the biggest in the world. …in. order for us to be able to shoot with these massive ships that were also moving …. they were all motorized but they were on land, on tracks. It was extraordinary to shoot. — Nestor Carbonell to the official Shogun podcast.
The Black Ship built at Rocky Point in Port Moody.
Boat race with blue screens.
Lord Toranaga’s party reboards the galley when its’s clear and they set course for the fishing village of Ajiro..
Shōgun:
BC filming dates:: September 22 2021 – June 30 2022.
Episodes: 10.
Created by: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks.
Showrunners: Justin Marks.
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai,.Tadanobu Asano, Fumi Nikaido, Tokuma Nishioka, Takehiro Hira, Ako, Shinnosuke Abe, Yasunari Takeshima, Hiroto Kanai, Toshi Toda, Hiro Kanagawa, Nestor Carbonell, Yuki Kura, Tommy Bastow, Moeka Hoshi, Yoriko Doguchi, Yuka Kouri
Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshi Toranaga, Cosmo Jarvis as Pilot Major John Blackthorne, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabu, Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba No Kata (Lady Ochiba), Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, Ako as Daiyoin Lady Iyo, Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Buntaro, Yasunari Takeshima as Mura, Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, Toshi Toda as Sugiyama, Hiro Kanagawa as Igurashi, Néstor Carbonell as Vasco Rodrigues, Yuki Kura as Yoshi Nagakado, Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito, Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, Yoriko Dōguchi as Kiri No Kata, Yuka Kouri as Kiku, Yuki Kedoin as Takemaru, Mako Fujimoto as Shizu No Kata.
Producers: Justin Marks, Rachel Kondo, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Michael De Luca, James Clavell’s daughter Michaela Clavell, Tim Van Patten, Hiroyuki Sanada.
Shōgun series airs on FX and streams on Hulu/Disney+.