I will read you the article. The prestigious U.S. Emmy Awards, a broadcasting event, named the drama “Shogun” as this year’s winner. It was nominated in 25 categories and won in 18. Particularly, it swept major categories such as Best Drama, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. This year, following “Squid Game” in 2022, a foreign language production won the awards twice, showcasing a changing landscape. However, there is a significant difference between the Japanese-based “Shogun” and the Korean-based “Squid Game.” While “Squid Game” is deeply rooted in Korean sentiment, “Shogun” is a Hollywood production based on a Western novel. It was broadcast with English subtitles on Disney-owned cable channel FX and can be watched on Disney+ in Korea.
British navigator John Blackthorn arrives in Japan in 1600 aboard a trading ship. Disguised as a trading vessel, his real goal is to monopolize trade with Portugal-dominated Japan. At that time, Japan was in turmoil with five “daimyos” vying for power after the death of the absolute ruler. Pushed aside by the Jesuit priests and their allies, Yoshii Toranaga, facing a dead-end situation, decides to use this British man to engage in a gamble. A fierce political battle unfolds around a foreigner from a distant land. John becomes Toranaga’s bodyguard. Will his choices lead to the birth of the Shogun ruler?
The original work is a historical novel by American author James Clavell. The globally bestselling “Shogun” is based on the true story of William Adams, known in England, and Miura Anjin in Japan. It reconstructs the story of Tokugawa Ieyasu becoming the Shogun in a confused Japan from a foreigner’s perspective. Interestingly, author James Clavell was actually captured as a prisoner of war by the Japanese army on the island of Java in Indonesia during World War II. He failed in several escape attempts and was not released until the end of the war in 1945.
The encounter of two alien cultures begins with each rejecting the other as barbarians. The initial impression of the British on Japan is a brutal place where swords precede words and prisoners are tortured to death. The dichotomous thinking of ‘Japanese who accept life as destiny and Westerners who seek to pioneer their own fate’ can be somewhat uncomfortable. However, as time passes, they come to understand each other. There is also enjoyment in watching the relentless challenges of individuals thrown into the midst of history.
Thinking about it, there was also Park Yeon, who naturalized in the Netherlands in Korean history, and there was Hamel from “Hamel’s Journal.” They arrived in a foreign land after drifting and settled down, started a family, and taught medicine and navigation, sharing many similarities with the protagonist of this drama. In the near future, if a Hollywood studio produces “Hamel’s Journal” and gains worldwide popularity, how would that make us feel? Let’s try to guess through this drama. Because it is a well-made masterpiece vouched for by the Emmy Awards, no one can deny it.
CJ ENM PDJ