The new series has been talked about since its release, but is it based on real events?

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Tuesday, 05 March 2024 at 14:53 PM

Some of the best shows these days are based on real life events that almost seem too shocking to be anything but fiction. And one recently released show that has not only gotten people talking, but has also left people wondering about the history behind it, is Shōgun.

The new series is based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell and is set in 1600, as Japan is on the brink of a century-defining civil war. Already, with only a few episodes released so far, Shōgun has quickly become one of the most talked-about shows of the year.

The series follows mysterious Englishman John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) who washes up ashore in Japan and comes armed with secrets that could help Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) in his quest for power.

With plenty more action to come in the series, viewers have been left wondering whether Shōgun is actually based on real life events. Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind the new series, which is available to stream on Disney Plus.

Is Shōgun based on a true story?

It is – well, mostly.

As with any drama, there’s a lot of creative licence involved in reimagining the action, dialogue and feel of the era but as the series is based on the James Clavell novel, Clavell himself based the book on real historical events.

The series follows Jarvis’s Blackthorne, who is based on the real-life figure of William Adams. Clavell was initially made aware of Adams after coming across a line in one of his daughter’s textbooks, that read: “In 1600, an Englishman went to Japan and became a samurai.”

Clavell’s daughter and the manager of his publishing rights, Michaela Clavell, told Variety: “He actually read for two years on the history of the period before he ever began the novel. He was thoughtful about the period, and knowledgeable about the period.

“TV was very limited as to what they could show, what they could do. And it was groundbreaking for the time.”

In Clavell’s novel, Adams is reimagined as Blackthorne who helps Lord Yoshii Toranaga reign supreme over Japan. Similarly, Toda Mariko is played by Anna Sawai in the new series and features prominently in the book.

But in actual fact, the character is “loosely modeled” on the real-life Hosokawa Gracia, a notable figure in Japanese history who didn’t go through with the ritualistic suicide (known as seppuku), breaking the expected code of conduct for samurai women at the time.

In the series, Toda is the main translator for Blackthorne, with their relationship set to grow over the coming episodes as they navigate a changing political and social landscape in Japan.

The novel and the series obviously encapsulate a tumultuous time in real Japanese history when the nation was involved in numerous civil wars across centuries. The period of time was known as the Sengoku period, where social upheavals took place across the 15th and 16th centuries, which left lords vying for power and control over the country.

So, it’s safe to say that 1600 was a pivotal year for Japanese history – and is where we begin the new series.

Is John Blackthorne based on a real person?

He is! Blackthorne is based on the real life figure of William Adams, who was an English navigator and, in 1600, was the first Englishman to reach Japan.

Born in England in 1564, Adams served in the Royal Navy where he fought under Sir Francis Drake. Afterwards, he spent much of his time joining ship crews bound for the Arctic, Africa and Asia.

In 1598, Adams signed up to a Dutch expedition to the West Indies but was battered by storms on the way. His ship was the only one out of five to make it to Japan with a crew of only 24, compared to its original 100.

Landing on the smaller island of Kyushu in April 1600, the crew members were met by the locals with suspicion, but Tokugawa Ieyasu believed the outsiders could be of help to his bigger plan for power.

Ieyasu went on to make Adams one of his trusted confidantes and he became a trusted advisor, becoming a Western samurai who ultimately, decided to remain in Japan even though he was given permission to return home.

Adams wrote in a letter to his wife at the time: “Coming before [Ieyasu], he viewed me well and seemed to be wonderfully favourable.

“I showed unto him the name of our country, and that our land long sought out the East Indies, and desired friendship with all kings and potentates in way of merchandise, having in our land diverse commodities which these lands had not.”

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Is Lord Yoshii Toranaga based on a real person?

Colin Bentley/FX

As you can probably guess by now, Lord Toranaga is based on Tokugawa Ieyasu, a real life former shōgun who was the third of Japan’s ‘great unifiers’.

According to History Extra, the first two of these ‘great unifiers’, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, laid the foundations in the late-16th century.

But Ieyasu, who fought alongside both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, completed the job. His past was a traumatic one and he was a child hostage, but he went on to become a feared warlord and military dictator, later establishing a shōgunate that lasted 265 years.