Special effects Shogun extended its 2024 Emmy reign on Sunday night. Coming into the night, the hit samurai series already held the record for the most wins of any show in a single year, having bagged 14 trophies at the Creative Arts Emmys a week ago. But the show further cemented its dominance inside the Peacock Theater at the Prime Time Emmys, winning four more awards, including the top categories of Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Anna Sawai, Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Hiroyuki Sanada, and Outstanding Directing – Drama for Frederick E. O. Toye.
ShogunThe triumph is significant on multiple fronts. The historic awards sweep represents a major win for FX and parent company Disney for an expensive series that took nearly a decade to make and once seemed like a long shot. It’s also a major moment for Asian representation and non-English-language television. Shogun It is the first non-English-language majority series to win in the Outstanding Drama Series category (Netflix's Korean Sensation) Squid Game was nominated in 2022 but lost to HBO Succession), while Sanada and Sawai are the first Japanese actors to ever win an Emmy.
Japanese cinema was recognized as early as 1951, when Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 24th Academy Awards. Miyoshi Umeki later won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1957 for HI opposite Marlon Brando. But recognition for Japanese talent on the small screen came much later. Previously, only Japanese actor Masi Oka, nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Heroes In 2007, it received an award for Drama Series from the Television Academy.
Anna Sawai accepts the Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
Images by Kevin Winter
ShogunSunday night's march through Emmy history wasn't without its hard-fought losses, however. Billy Crudup won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama for The morning show about cult Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, whose portrayal of the cunning samurai Kashigi Yabushige was a Shogun fan favorite. The writers room for the FX series, which condensed James Clavell's 1,312-page 1975 best-selling novel into 10 one-hour TV episodes, also lost in the drama scripted category to Apple TV+ Slow horses.
Shogun may be the most-watched FX series ever (based on global streaming hours), but it's actually the second television adaptation of Clavell's sprawling book. A profoundly influential epic about duty, honor, and the struggle for power in feudal Japan, the novel was previously adapted by Paramount Television in 1980. Filmed in Japan on the largest budget ever spent on a TV series at the time, the first Shogun became a pop culture sensation when it aired on NBC. The series earned 12 nominations at the 1981 Emmy Awards, winning for Best Limited Series, Costume Design, and Best Title Sequence.
Paramount's adaptation ended where Clavell's beloved book ended, just like the first season of the FX series. Shogun does. Co-creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo delighted fans in May with the revelation that Disney had greenlit two additional seasons of the show. Sanada, who produces Shogun In addition to playing Lord Toranaga, he has begun teasing what the future might hold for the next chapters of the story. Following the conclusion of Sunday night's Emmy celebrations, Shogun The creative team will certainly have their work cut out for them as they attempt to sustain Lord Toranaga’s Emmy reign by adding two completely original seasons to the franchise.