182 - Shogun Season 1

"We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that."It is 1600 Japan, a period of political instability and a Dutch vessel is shipwrecked on the shores. It's Pilot, English sailor John Blackthorne is taken to the local leader Lord Toranaga, a man with vast ambitions. Very soon Blackthorne finds himself as a pawn of the Lords plan to seize the ultimate power of all - SHOGUN!Based on the highly influential bestseller by James Clavell, Shogun follows the odyssey of Blackthorne as he encounters a new land with an unfamiliar culture, scheming lords and religious rivals whilst playing a major role in changing the feudal landscape of Japan forever!In this episode we discuss the historical context of this period, the real life characters, themes of cultural exchange heroism, religion and feminism and how the showrunners successfully adapt Clavell's novel for the modern age! Henry Smith (ed), Learning from SHOGUN: Japanese History and Western Fantasy (University of California, Santa Barbara, 1980) https://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf Mike Hale, "Shogun' Review: Rediscovering Japan', The New York Times (Feb 2024) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/arts/television/shogun-review.htmlLIKE, SHARE, FOLLOW, REVIEW! Check Out the Podcast! Follow us: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Letterboxd Email us: [email protected] Buy The Long Road!