In 1980, when James Clavell’s blockbuster historical novel Shōgun was turned into a TV miniseries, about 33% of American households with a television tuned in.
It quickly became one of the most viewed miniseries to date, second only to Roots.
I’m a historian of Japan who specialises in the history of the Tokugawa, or early modern era – a period from 1603 to 1868, during which the bulk of the action in Shōgun took place.
As a first-year graduate student, I sat glued to the television for five nights in September 1980, enthralled that someone cared enough to create a series about the period in Japan’s past that had captured my imagination.
I wasn’t alone. In 1982, historian Henry D Smith estimated that one-fifth to one-half of students enrolled in university
