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It was during mid-2023 that Disney confirmed the premiere of Shōgun, its epic j-drama which was born in response to the enormous Asian production of platforms like Netflix (which had, The Monster of Old Seoul) or AppleTV+ (streaming that premiered the brilliant Pachinko). With its first episodes already available on Star+ and ready to marathon, although the fiction takes us to Japan in the 1600s, many will be surprised to learn that in reality not a single scene was filmed in the Asian country.

What Star+’s Shōgun is about

Created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks (Counterpart) and based on the novel of the same name by James Clavell, Shōgun was defined as an epic samurai adventure. It became a huge bet on the part of Disney (which bankrolled the project with a budget millionaire), and the public responded very positively since the series broke the viewing record by being seen by more than 9 million users in just six days.

With a single season of 10 episodes, the story takes us to Japan in the 1600s and narrates the civil war that will define the next cycle of the Asian country.. At first we are presented with two narrative lines in which we meet, on the one hand, Yoshii Toranaga (a lord who has to fight for his life while his enemies on the Council of Regents seek to eliminate him) and, on the other, John Blackthorne. (a British pirate who arrives in the country after being shipwrecked for months). They form a fundamental relationship and Blackthorne becomes the key character in getting Toranaga into battle. “The fates of Toranaga and Blackthorne become inextricably linked to their translator, Toda Mariko, a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last in a disgraced line of succession. As she serves her lord amid this tense political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her new friendship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her, and her duty to her late father. , explains the official synopsis

Where Shōgun was actually filmed

• London England). Being one of the least used locations, only one scene was filmed in London: the moment when Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) rides a horse around the fire. The curious thing is that the only reason why part of the team moved to England was because in 2019 the studio was at risk of losing the rights to adapt James Clavell’s book and by technically starting filming there they were able to gain time to adapt scripts.

“They looked for locations all over the world to make this series. We wanted to open the fiction with the beautiful scenery of Wya Point beach in Ucluelet. It is a very incredible place. We have a lot of cast and crew from Japan who were quite fascinated and amazed. Far away because of the resemblance of that place to Japan” – Erin Smith, producer of the series.

• British Columbia (Canada). This Canadian province is one of the most used locations in the series industry and the vast majority of the fictions we saw were filmed there. Shōgun in particular filmed in:
• • Ucluelet: Located on the west coast of Vancouver, it was the perfect replacement for Japan with its combination of beaches and forests. Presenting great complications because it is not an easily accessible area, in the production notes the entire Japanese team highlights the enormous similarities between this Canadian municipality and its country of origin. Among the most recognizable scenes is the opening sequence with which Shōgun introduces his story.
  • Port Moody: It is the main location where Shōgun was filmed and the place where the production team built several of the sets that sought to recreate the classic Japanese villages of the 1600s. Being one of the districts of Vancouver (its name is in homage to the first governor of British Columbia), is located just 40′ from Downtown and -in fact- is a quite popular location for film and television studios.

Behind the scenes of why it was not filmed in Japan

While Shōgun was originally going to be filmed entirely in Japan, in 2019 production was delayed because they considered that the conditions for such filming were not yet in place. With the border closures and limitations imposed on the entertainment industry due to COVID-19, the team decided to look for new locations and, technically, only a few exterior scenes of natural landscapes in Japan were filmed in the quest to give it a greater verisimilitude to the story.

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