A Japanese-language TV Drama Wins Big

“Shogun” was a 1100-page book when it came out in the 1970s, but it was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down. James Clavell, the writer, got his story from Japanese history, but he didn’t want to write a pure history book. He wanted to write fiction, so he changed the name of the shogun from Tokugawa to Toranaga. Even though 70% of “Shogun” is in Japanese with English subtitles, people in the U.S. love it. “Shogun” won 18 awards at the Emmys last Sunday. Sanada Hiroyuki won the award for best actor as Lord Toranaga, and Sawai Anna won the award for best actress. It’s a 10-episode series. I’ve seen the first six episodes, and I am really looking forward to the last four episodes.  (127 words)