U.S. Emmy Award Wins: Period Drama Conveys Japanese Culture with Believable Performances

Editorial

16:08 JST, September 18, 2024

A period drama depicting Japanese history and culture has received high acclaim in the United States. This will be a great encouragement for Japanese actors and staff involved in the production of visual works to aim for global attention in the future.

At this year’s Emmy Awards, the highest honor in the U.S. TV industry, “Shogun” won a record 18 awards for a single season of a TV series, including the one for best drama. The Emmy Awards for best drama actor and actress went to Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, respectively.

Set in Japan’s Sengoku warring states period, the 10-episode drama series depicts the life of a feudal warlord played by Sanada, and the interwoven human relationships of characters, including a British navigator and his female interpreter, are vividly portrayed. The drama also won awards for sound and visual effects, and it seems that the carefully created production was highly esteemed.

Although the drama is a so-called Hollywoodized period drama produced mainly in the United States, Sanada served as a producer and participated in the script writing process as well.

In the past, stereotypical images of Japan, such as “Fujiyama” and “geisha,” have often been portrayed in the United States. This time, Sanada asked Japanese staff specializing in period dramas to join the production and aim to create a work with a sense of realism.

This is reportedly the first time for a Japanese person to win the award for best actor or actress. Although the dialogue was mostly presented in Japanese, an atypical choice, Sanada and the cast members captivated the audience with their true-to-life performances that conveyed the emotions of the characters. The feat deserves to be applauded.

The South Korean film “Parasite” won best picture at the U.S. Academy Awards in 2020, and the South Korean TV drama “Squid Game” won Emmy Awards, including best director, in 2022.

In the United States, there is a growing trend toward eliminating discrimination based on race and gender and recognizing diversity. Against the backdrop of such a change, the fact that the groundwork had been laid down in the United States to accept foreign works may have contributed to the success of Shogun.

Shogun began to be distributed worldwide in February, recording 9 million views in the first six days. Video distribution services require a large number of works, so distributors are searching around the world for quality productions.

Even works in Japanese may gain popularity overseas if the content is excellent.

If such works are disseminated, it may increase interest in Japanese culture and become an opportunity to attract foreign visitors to Japan. It is hoped that Japanese production staff will work hard to create works that will follow in the footsteps of Shogun.

The Japanese government has formulated a strategy to market Japanese films and music overseas. It is the role of the government to discover excellent works and promote them abroad.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 18, 2024)