6.3139 minSeason 1 • Episode 5
LatestTreachery, tragedy and turns of events occur. Toronaga becomes SHOGUN after the defeat of Lord Ishido. Mariko is killed in the final battle at Osaka Castle. Heartbroken, but resolute, Blackthorne begins construction of another ship.
An English navigator becomes both a player and pawn in complex political games in feudal Japan.
Acting
Mifune's Toranaga: every glance a chess move, every silence a threat.
Production
They built feudal Japan in Japan. The scale is genuinely bananas for TV.
Costume
Kimono game so authentic you'll pause to google weaving techniques.
Creator
James Clavell
Richard Chamberlain
Pilot-Major John Blackthorne / Anjin-san
Toshirō Mifune
Lord Yoshi Toranaga
Yoko Shimada
Lady Toda Buntaro - Mariko
John Rhys-Davies
Vasco Rodrigues
Damien Thomas
Father Alvito
Frankie Sakai
Yabu
Yūki Meguro
Omi
Hiromi Senno
Fujiko
Alan Badel
Father Dell'Aqua
Miiko Taka
Kiri
Vladek Sheybal
Captain Ferriera
Nobuo Kaneko
Ishido
Hideo Takamatsu
Lord Buntarō
Michael Hordern
Friar Domingo
George Innes
Johann Vinck
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Toshirō Mifune spoke almost no English and learned his lines phonetically; his on-set translator became his actual samurai advisor. The confusion you see? Sometimes real.
Clavell's novel was banned in Japan until 1986 for its portrayal of historical figures—particularly the Toranaga/Tokugawa connection that essentially calls the founding shogun a manipulative schemer.
US
