Creators reflect on ‘Shogun' challenges: 'Nothing came easy'

One of the 2024 biggest hits comes in the face of Shogun and with a whopping 25 Emmy nods and on the success of the show its creators opened up about what challenges they face in the making of the series.

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, the makers Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks were asked about how hard was to create a show rooted in Japanese history and made with an American production.

"In this context, it doesn’t mean much simply because I am Japanese American. I was Hawaii-born and raised but many generations removed, and not to mention, there’s 400 years between then and now," the writer, who is of Japanese descent said. 

She continued, "It was new to all of us, and it was foreign to everyone involved, even someone like Hiroyuki Sanada, who is the most seasoned of all seasoned gentlemen. 

"And he had to adopt the specific language of that era and help his counterparts figure out how to speak something they wouldn’t really even understand on their own."

Her husband Justin weighs in on the challenges saying, "Nothing came simply with this show. When it comes to what characters say, that’s usually the hardest thing, just writing." 

"And in this case, it was how they say it and what dialect it works in, that old Japanese and the modern Japanese, a mix. … It took a lot of care, scrutiny, research, and a lot of questioning."