Disney+'s latest historical drama, Shōgun, takes place in 17th-century feudal Japan. The series stars Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4) and Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) as unlikely partners who navigate the turbulent era together. Airing for 10 episodes this spring, the limited series serves as the second major adaption of James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name. While characters depicted in the series are based on real-life events surrounding the famous Tokugawa Shogunate, the story follows an original plot.
So, it helps to know that Shōgun wasn't shooting for historical accuracy when it decided to shoot most of the series in Canada. Although some principal photography took place in Japan and the United Kingdom—where our two main characters hail from—the majority of filming for Shōgun took place in Port Moody and Ucluelet, British Columbia. "They searched the world to do this show," producer Erin Smith told Vancouver's CTV News. "We wanted to open the show with the beautiful scenery of the Wya Point Beach in Ucluelet. 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."
According to Smith, around 340 crew members arrived to British Columbia, alongside about 10 to 15 cast members. Filming turned out to be a real struggle—especially during the pandemic. "Every single actor and background performer has to be in a special wig, of the hairstyle of the time," Smith added. "Just the mass amount of people that it takes to get that ready in the morning and undone at the end of the day." When the crew left, they reportedly planted a Japanese pine tree in the area as a thank you to the community. The tree was just one of hundreds of items brought over from Japan, including costumes, jewellery, furniture, weapons, and old feudal armour.
Another popular series, Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, also did a majority of its filming in British Columbia. "Ucluelet has been a bit of a hotspot for us this summer," North Island Film commissioner Joan Miller told CTV News. "They were also hiring our trained people so we have really expanded our local crew database." That said, according to Canada's Tri-City News, Shōgun's sets demanded much more attention.Repurposing an old nearby sawmill, the massive crew built impressive, period-accurate Japanese homes for Sanada's Lord Yoshii Toranaga.
Sanada also earned his first producer credit for the upcoming limited series, marking a major milestones for the actor both in front of and behind the camera. "All day on set, as a producer, is very physically hard," he told Esquire US this past spring. "But mentally—so happy. If the young actors do a good performance, that's makes me so much happier than if somebody said my acting was great."
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
