Disney series Shōgun breaks mould with careful respect for Japanese culture

High-budget series with largely Japanese cast avoids well worn western orientalist fantasies and wins plaudits in Japan

Japanese audiences could have been forgiven for bracing themselves when Disney announced the launch of Shōgun, a 10-part adaptation of James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel.

With few exceptions, Hollywood depictions of Japan and the Japanese have relied on one-dimensional characters whose purpose is to confirm cultural stereotypes, set against the backdrop of an inscrutable archipelago whose people have much to learn from the western hero.