FX’s Shogun Release Date Revealed

FX’s Shogun has revealed its official release date, which will be Tuesday, February 27, 2024, only on FX Networks. It’s been a slow roll to find out exactly when Shogun is coming: first, we knew it would be early in 2024, then in February sometime, and now we have the exact day and date of the premiere. 

Shogun is a limited series adaptation of James Clavell’s acclaimed 1975 novel. Set in 1600, the book follows an English ship pilot named John Blackthorne (played by Cosmo Jarvis in the show) whose ship crashes and washes up on the shores of Japan. Blackthorne falls into the company of Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Mortal Kombat’s Hiroyuki Sanada), who is caught up in the midst of Feudal Japan’s precarious shifting power structure. Blackthorne and Toranaga’s alliance brings in competing forces from both inside Japan’s system of lords, and outside forces ranging from Portuguese merchants to religious groups like the Christian missionaries to the order of Jesuit Priests. Japan’s future quickly starts getting shaped by the power plays to control the country’s most powerful station: that of the Shogun. 

What Is FX’s Shogun About? 

FX’s Shōgun, based on James Clavell’s bestselling novel, is set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. ‘Lord Yoshii Toranaga’ (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

Its English pilot, ‘John Blackthorne’ (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies – the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, ‘Toda Mariko’ (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line.

While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.

Shogun will be a 10-episode series, starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroto Kanai, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Tokuma Nishioka, Shinnosuke Abe, Yuki Kura and Fumi Nikaido. It was created for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks – with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer. Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Lu and Kondo all executive produce, and Hiroyuki Sanada also serves as a producer.