If you enjoyed FX’s historical drama Shōgun, you probably loved the political subterfuges of imperial Japan, gruesome and spontaneous murders, the surprisingly gory culture of samurai loyalty, and how easily Japanese flows into poetry. You probably also loved the women of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and their attempt to outmaneuver the systemic misogyny of that time. It's hard to tell what's more gripping in this epic remake of Paramount’s 1980 miniseries—the intrigue of diplomatic finesse or the unpredictable mind of a war general who has lived several generations through his shogunate ancestry.
Adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 book of the same title and set just before the period of Japan's isolationism in the early 1600s, Shōgun, which has now clinched 25 Emmy nominations—the most at the 76th Emmys—and a swarm of critical acclaim, is a mesmerizing depiction of Japan’s historical brutality and the ascent of Tokugawa (who Toranaga is based on). It beautifully teaches the Portuguese’s failed attempt at colonizing Japan, the country's staunch power hierarchies, and an unflinchingly conservative culture.
Shōgun starts quickly with a fierceness and gore that reminds viewers of HBO’s mega-hit Game of Thrones, giving you no time to adjust as seppukus and massacres become regular occurrences. It's not a long ride, but every episode is a clearcut representation of significant detail in the source material that 10 episodes for storytelling just feels right, but not satisfying enough for how enthralled it keeps you.
While we wait for season two, if you don't want to take a third go at the miniseries but are still peculiarly obsessed with it and want to dive into anything even remotely connected to feudal Japan, we've compiled a list of the 10 best things that may just be as great as the show.
1.Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
Image via Kodansha International
Published by award-winning novelist and historical buff Yoshikawa Eiji in 1967, Taiko is another installment in his novels about war-driven Japan that's especially perfect for your next indulgence as it immediately precedes Shōgun's time. We hear a lot about the death of a Taiko (or retired regent) in the show, the same one who left Japan's affairs to his five generals and who Toranaga speaks fondly of.
This is that Taiko.
The book is a historically accurate account of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a man who rises from ashes to glory to become Japan's imperial ruler in the spur of its Shogunate feuds. Hideyoshi—whose life trajectory was street brat to general to Taiko—is tactical, witty, seductive, and needfully ruthless, all of which led him to become Japan's second great unifier.
Though several hundred pages long, Taiko is full of deep political intrigue and calculated strategizing in between limb decapitations and headless necks. If the intense relationship between Toranaga and the former Taiko piqued your interest, this book tries to give much-needed context to how Tokugawa (Toranaga’s real-life character) went from foe to long-term ally of Hideyoshi after Oda Nobunaga’s rule. It may have also inspired Clavell's writing of an incredibly strategic Toranaga.
2.Age Of Samurai: Battle For Japan
This six-part, 2019 Netflix documentary—which mostly feels like a fictional drama—spotlights the viciousness of Japan’s first great unifier, Oda Nobunaga. It also provides a nuanced understanding of the strained relationship between Nobunaga, his successor Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa, as well as their approach to power wielding, diplomatic maneuvers, inter-clan conflicts, and ultimately, a path to an alliance.
Age of Samurai uses cinematic portrayals and intensive interviews with Japanese, British, and American historical experts to correct sentiments in fictional adaptations of this era with details of what was more obtainable in that period. But don't worry. if you're into Shōgun for the blood, there's a considerable amount of seppuku, abrupt murders, sword clashing, and limb slicing throughout this documentary.
But it’s made clear from the directing that this many things happening at once is intentional, a natural phenomenon of not just Nobunaga’s rule, but the entire run of feudal Japan. Like Shōgun’s Mariko, the women of Age Of Samurai—Nene and Lady Cha Cha—aren't sidelined or written as subservient; they're equal political rivals with a sack full of plan B schemes.
3.Musashi
Image via Kodansha International
Yoshikawa Eiji just gets it.
Musashi is a book based on real events, locations, and people. However, it is fiction most of the time, though it's considerably more historically accurate than Shōgun. The storyline is set in the same time period as Shōgun—and, in fact, starts after the same battle that James Clavell writes about at the end of the eponymous 1975 historical novel. (This detail—which is the devastatingly bloody Battle of Sekigahara in October 1600—doesn't occur in episode 10 of the hit FX series.)
Yoshikawa writes meticulously about the self-reinvention of a man named Musashi—from when he wakes up on the losing side after the pretty big battle, wounded, weak, and on the verge of another collapse to all the swirling adventures that changed him from a thug named Tazeko to sword-master samurai named Miyamoto Musashi.
In contrast to how Shōgun’s depiction of power is largely from the perspective of ancient Japan’s power-wielding figures, Musashi is about how a lowly man navigates his upbringing to ascend to new heights. With a bevy of complex characters around him, Musashi's story revolves around the man himself and how he conquers the art of the sword and the way of war to become of one of the most revered figures in Feudal Japan.
4.Shōgun’s Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy
This 1978 TV classic takes place after the murder of a Tokugawa clan Shōgun when his children must fight for Shogunate ascension. It is Kinji f*ckasaku’s first go at a period drama, and he gives it an immaculate shot considering his obvious inexperience and limited materials at the time.
There's everything you see in FX’s Shōgun: a defined story of ascent to power, lingering betrayal at every progress stop, a never-ending sense of unpredictability, fight scenes that get bloodier with every episode, and treacherously scheming nobles who'll do anything to for power.
The conflict within the Yagyu family takes center stage throughout the film. Think of many, much smarter Yabushige's and Omi's who hate each other, and you may just get a glimpse into the Yagyu clan.
You may know Sonny Chiba from Kill Bill, but his character as Yagyu Jubei was a lucid dream for many Japanese history nerds. In the film, Jubei strongly opposes the decision of his father, a revered swordmaster, to install the older son Lemitsu as Shōgun, spinning plates of his own that turn him into his father's enemy. This movie packs an ensemble cast, including a very young Hiroyuki Sanada, who gives every scene their all. Following its widespread success, the film was adapted in the same year into a 39-episode TV show titled The Yagyu Conspiracy (now streaming on Apple TV+), where f*ckasaku and Sonny Chiba reprised their roles.
5.Blue Eye Samurai
Blue Eye Samurai starts with one of the most beautifully rendered fight scenes in anime history as it introduces us into the dark objectives of its lead character Mizu: to obliterate every white man in Japan for what one of them did to her mother. This 2023 Netflix animated series met and broke many viewer expectations, and now holds two Emmy nominations.
The show does well to spotlight 17th-century Japan's perception of whiteness, which Mizu partially embodies as the color of her eyes give away: cursed, monstrous, and borderline absurd. This perception is a key driver of our protagonist’s mission and existence, and she will walk through a thorn field and destroy armies of giant men to accomplish it.
Her matchless fight skills, sword mastery, and ability to disguise simply make it some great cinema, not just because of its succinct storytelling or the immersive depth of Mizu’s sword skills, but also how it seamlessly weaves humor and grit into the events that oversee our swordmaster’s gradual evolution from cold and brooding to a warmer, still brooding variant.
6.47 Ronin
Rōnin, the law-defying and lordless samurai of Japan's imperial era, were the most feared of that time. In this rendition of a part of their history, 47 of them, disgracefully exiled, take revenge for the death of their master. The movie’s source material is historically known as the Ako Incident, but it blends elements of mysticism in its portrayal of the enmity between two lords, Kira and Asano. Asano, the former Lord of the 7 Ronin, is bewitched into attacking a power-thirsty Kira and is afterwards commanded to commit seppuku, turning his samurai into Rōnin.
Hiroyuki Sanada does what he knows best here: be freakishly good! His character, Oishi, leads 47 of the exiled samurai through their thirst for vengeance and does fairly well with succeeding when Kai, a lone outcast played by Keanu Reeves, helps out. If you're interested in revolts and rebellion against the rigid Shogunate structures, you'd love what director Carl Rinsch’s 47 Ronin does to their Shōgun.
7.Ghosts of Tushima
This video game adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa classic of the same name follows a series of stylized open-world sequences that leaves players stunned. It take places centuries before the Shogunate period and after a large Mongolian army invades Tsushima Island. There's much less centralized leadership here, but it still features lots of fighting to beat the odds carefully stacked against you. You play as Jin Sakai, who makes several futile attempts at saving his uncle before realizing he has to become more than a samurai to defeat the Mongolian horde.
It's an interesting play on samurai history, and an unorthodox take on the typicality of samurai principles (or Bushido code). Jin Sakai reinvents himself constantly throughout the game, becoming a self-modified samurai with deadly weapons and underhanded combat skills, as well as an unlikely ally to other powerful figures that help him beat the Mongols. He's mostly in a league of his own and will power through a grand battle of death and craze to save his small island of Tsushima.
8.Samurai Champloo
If you’re looking for less old-men-making-ruthless-decisions, Tokugawa-era cinema and something more youthful yet just as vicious and brutal, then Samurai Champloo would be the smart choice to watch. In this fictional illustration of Edo by Shinichirō Watanabe, three young people, two boys and a girl, take up many adventurous conquests to find their way through the brutishness of that era. It's a sweet blend of the "traveling samurai" and "disgraced samurai seeking redemption" tropes. However, it even somewhat makes caricatures of the tropes in the comical way its male characters are written.
The anime features strong Western influences—its music being hip hop, for example—modern, outlandish jokes that beat the grimness of ancient Japanese culture, unserious and laughable plots, and bloody fight scenes that can be bit much depending on what you're going for.
9.Ran
Many Kurosawa masterpieces transcend generations, remaining captivating works of art through decades while inspiring large franchise movies like Star Wars. But Ran particularly takes the cake. Unlike many Japanese literary and film, the movie is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear in historically precise Japan, and was one of the most expensive movies in 1985 with a $11–12 million budget.
It tells the story of three sons of the aged warlord Hidetora, each of whom hold one-third of their father's kingdom, but focuses on Hidetora’s reminiscing of how his youthful recklessness catches up with him through his children. We see Hidetora’s full-circle moments of realization that he cannot turn the hands of time. We see his downward spiral into madness through the bracing lens of Kurosawa. And we learn about consequences after lots of samurai bloodshed, destroyed regions, and the self destruction of a dictatorial leader.
It's kind of like if the Taiko were alive to witness what became of his kingdom after he handed the reins to his generals.
10.Cloud of Sparrows
Image via Dell
One of the most fascinating features of Shōgun is its exploration of geopolitical conflicts between Japan and the West, and Cloud of Sparrows does this well with a new, tense introduction: the Americans.
Set over 200 years after the isolation era, Japan is still deeply conservative in the face of brash modernity. There are even more ruthless warlords, sensual geishas, and loyal samurai, but a squad of American warships is knocking at its door.
The book was published in 2002 by Takashi Matsuoka, introducing us to the peak of modern Japan as it grapples with and struggles against Western ideals while centering a simple and just lord named Genji, who serves as a bridge between Japan’s rigidity and America’s modernity.
There are seers who can predict the future—even World War 2—in Genji’s bloodline, and this makes him a deeply important figure in Japan's evolution. The book features lots of bloodshed and justifiable killings scattered across many chapters, and every character has an underlying motive, especially Genji. Hey, that's kind of like Shōgun.
