(Osaka) The Japanese celebrated on Monday the triumph of Shogun at the Emmy Awards, even though many admitted to never having watched this series about warring Japanese dynasties during the feudal era.
Posted yesterday at 6:48 am
Shogun collected a record 18 trophies at the American television equivalent of the Oscars held in Los Angeles on Sunday.
It became the first non-English language series to win the top award, the Best Drama Series award, and also received the award for Best Direction.
Lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Lord Toranaga, became the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy, while Anna Sawai, who plays Lady Mariko, achieved the same feat by taking home the award for best actress.
“As a Japanese, I am happy that Sanada won,” Kiyoko Kanda, a 70-year-old retiree, told AFP in Tokyo.
“He's worked so hard since he moved to Los Angeles.”
In The Last SamuraiTom Cruise was the main character, so it's exciting that Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada is the main character in Shogunadded M.me Kanda.
She admitted, however, that she had only seen the trailer so far, but assured that she would watch the series because she was “curious to know how Japan is represented.”
The series is only available on the Disney platform, which is relatively new in Japan.
Mme Otsuka, who declined to give her first name, said she also had not watched the series. “But I saw the news and I'm happy she won.”
On Japan's X network, the keywords “historical achievements” and “Hiroyuki Sanada” were among the day's trends, while actor Sanada's speech at the awards ceremony was viewed tens of thousands of times.
Yusuke Takizawa, 41, has also only watched a trailer, but says he admires the quality of the series.
“I was impressed by the actors' passion, attention to detail and technology,” Takizawa told AFP outside Osaka Castle, a major historical location in the series.
“I think many young people will want to try their luck in Hollywood after seeing Sanada.”
Inspired by the historical novel by the British James Clavell, a literary success of the 1970s, Shogun breaks with decades of stereotypical representations of the Japanese archipelago in films and television shows produced in the West.
A team of specialists – including Japanese wigmakers – put their know-how at the service of the series, meticulously scrutinizing the sets, costumes and movements of the actors.
