You probably didn’t know it, but Shōgun, one of the most buzz-worthy shows in recent memory, has significant Canadian connections.
While the FX historical drama is set in 1600 Japan, it was only partially filmed in the East Asian country. Instead, the majority of the production was based in none other than B.C. across locations like Port Moody, Ucluelet and Coquitlam.
The 10-episode series follows Lord Yoshii Toranaga as he fights for his life against the Council of Regents, and a marooned English sailor who comes bearing secrets that could turn the tide of the mounting war.
Speaking to Yahoo Canada, the predominantly Japanese cast of the critically-acclaimed series raved about B.C., particularly for how it stood in for their homeland.
Hiroyuki Sanada, the legendary actor who plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, thanked Canada, “especially Vancouver,” for being “a perfect place to make a samurai drama because they had a big, great, beautiful studio, and then 30 minutes drive from the studio they have everything, forest, river, beach, parks, mountains.”
He notes that the production hired many Japanese crew members who worked well with the local B.C. workers. “And then we hired the Japanese crew to make it authentic as much as possible, and then they worked together, collaborated, and we created great teamwork immediately. It was a dream East meets West company in Vancouver. And also, a lot of extras from Vancouver. … They worked so hard, I’d love to say thank you to the Vancouver extras.”
Cosmo Jarvis, who plays the English sailor John Blackthorne, added that “our Canadian crew exhibited a technical proficiency that I’ve never witnessed in my life.”
Speaking to CTV News in 2021 during the pandemic production of the series, producer Erin Smith shouted out Ucluelet, specifically.
“We wanted to open the show with the beautiful scenery of the Wya Point Beach in Ucluelet,” she said. “It’s a very beautiful place. We have a lot of cast and crew from Japan that were quite fascinated and blown away by the resemblance of that spot to Japan.”
Altogether, around 340 crew members worked on the show, which has FX’s biggest budget to date. Clearly, the level of craft and authenticity has paid off, though, with Shōgun receiving rave reviews over the past few weeks. In fact, many critics have already heralded the show as the “next Game of Thrones“ thanks to its quality and scope.
The first two episodes of Shōgun are now streaming on Disney+ Canada, with one new episode dropping every Tuesday.
More information on B.C. production of the series can be found on B.C. Creates.
Shōgun is one of many recent high-profile series to be shot in B.C. Other examples include Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender and HBO’s upcoming second season of The Last of Us; the former was filmed in Vancouver between November 2021 and June 2022, while the latter just started shooting in the city this month.
Image credit: FX
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