Anna Sawai found connection to her ‘Shōgun’ character

The years Anna Sawai spent as a member of the Japanese girl groups ARA and Faky ended up being beneficial for her latest role in the new 10-part FX series “Shōgun.” That time gave her some insight as to how to play Toda Mariko, the Christian noblewoman who is trapped in servitude.

“It was a tough time because I already knew I wanted to act.  It was kind of like Mariko because she felt trapped. I had not thought about it while I was filming but I now see how I felt trapped by being in the bands,” Sawai says.

“Shōgun” is an original adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. It will premiere on Hulu and Disney+ on Feb. 27 with the first two episodes. A new episode will be released each following week.

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 tip the scales of power in a country on the verge of an uprising. His fate becomes tied to their translator (Sawai).

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.

The New Zealand native of Japanese descent made her acting debut at the age of 11 in a production of “Annie.” She landed a few acting roles before being pulled into the music world. After that ended in 2018, Sawai landed roles in “F9,” “Pachinko” and “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”

No role she has played has been as demanding as “Shōgun.” Sawai had to train to ride a horse, how to walk and fight in a kimono and do the tea ceremony. The biggest task was finding the right way for the character to speak.

“We had to learn everything from zero.  Basically, when you’re in a kimono, you’re restricted so much that it changes the way you walk, you sit, you stand,” Sawai says. “We’re also speaking in period Japanese, that’s not how we talk today.  So, having to learn how to make that seem natural. We did put on an accent for Mariko.”

In the novel, Mariko is fluent in Portuguese. She worked with a dialect coach to decide exactly how the character should speak. They discovered immediately that Sawai’s own accent sounded a bit too modern.

They decided that since the first English brought to Japan was British English, she would lean towards that but also chose certain words where she would put a little bit of a Japanese accent.

The long hours preparing for the role never bothered Sawai as she embraced the idea of getting to play someone completely different than herself. She was driven by the fact that the book and series focus on Japanese history.

Her preparation started with reading Clavell’s book that was released in 1975 and sold 15 million copies. A nine-hour miniseries was adapted from the book in 1980 and starred Richard Chamberlin. This new version is true to the original story but there have been some changes.

Michaela Clavell, daughter of James Clavell, says her father loved the adaptation of his book for the first series. He started out as a screenplay writer so his books were designed to be adapted. She is certain he would be even happier with this version as it deals with even more of the complexities of the book.

Sawai points out that while Clavell’s book was from a white man’s perspective the author opted to focus on Japanese culture as something that he wanted to talk about.

“I am so grateful that he was making that the subject at a time where that wasn’t really common.  We were able to take that and adapt that into something that was going to explore more voices. Give more voice to the female characters,” Sawai says. “None of that would’ve been possible without James’s book.

“I’m very grateful for that, but I think we’re able to give a version that’s more deserved for the characters that didn’t have much perspective of theirs.  It was more Blackthorne’s perspective.  And, so, we get to see a little bit more of the Japanese side.”

And by doing that, the production features a cast that is predominantly Japanese.  That includes: Hiroyuki Sanada, a producer who stars as Lord Yoshii Toranaga; Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, a backstabber and close ally of Toranaga; Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, the young leader of the fishing village where Blackthorne’s ship was found; and Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, a bureaucrat who is Toranaga’s chief rival.

The original plan was to film the series in Japan but that proved impossible because of the pandemic. British Columbia became the filming location. Those involved found the Canadian landscape a perfect match.

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