After his Dutch trading ship Erasmus and its surviving crew is blown ashore by a violent storm at Injiro on the east coast of Japan, Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, the ship's English navigator, is taken prisoner by samurai warriors. When he is later temporarily released, he must juggle his self-identity as an Englishman associated with other Europeans in Japan, namely Portuguese traders and Jesuit priests, with the alien Japanese culture into which he has been thrust and now must adapt to in order to survive. Being an Englishman, Blackthorne is at both religious and political odds with his enemy, the Portuguese, and the Catholic Church's Jesuitorder. The Catholic foothold in Japan puts Blackthorne, a Protestant and therefore a heretic, at a political disadvantage. But this same situation also brings him to the attention of the influential Lord Toranaga, who mistrusts this foreign religion now spreading in Japan. He is competing with other samurai warlords of similar high-born rank, among them Catholic converts, for the very powerful position of Shōgun, the military governor of Japan.

Ended
  • Currently 87.27272727272727/5
(11 votes)
Ratings: TVMaze: 7.8/10
Released: September 15, 1980
Runtime: 120 min
Genres: Action Adventure Drama
AKA: James Clavell's Shōgun
Countries: United States
Companies: NBC TOHO Jardine Matheson TV Asahi Holdings Corporation Paramount Television
Cast: John Rhys-Davies Richard Chamberlain Michael Hordern Nobuo Kaneko Frankie Sakai Hideo Takamatsu Alan Badel Damien Thomas George Innes Vladek Sheybal Yuki Meguro 3 more
Crew: James Clavell

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Expand all Spoilers
random000 6 points 1 year ago.

Remember this 1980 original 5 episode mini-series adaptation? It was a big dealio when we were kids. Chamberlain was batting 1000 then from Man In The Iron Mask, Thorn Birds to this.

Gnostic_Alchemist 1 points 1 year ago. 4/5 stars.

Yep along with V

gypsy soul 2 points 5 years ago. 5/5 stars.

I loved the book and really enjoyed the TV mini-series. It was both entertaining and educational. A peek into a completely different culture. Wonderfully fascinating! 9/10

[User deleted] 2 points 3 years ago.

Looks like the 5 episodes have been condensed into 3 episodes… so nothing is missing…

mantistoboggan3 1 points 3 years ago.

thank you

Rasnac -2 points 3 years ago. 5/5 stars.

A little orientalist, but still a great tv show.

geoscot 0 points 3 years ago*.

Thank you for the uploads.