Shōgun

The authentic portrayal of traditional gestures and movement was essential to the filming of Shōgun. Every department focused on details that were historically and culturally appropriate to the period and relied on the extraordinary knowledge and cultural understanding provided by Japanese advisors and experts. On set, these advisors helped teach cast and background performers how to walk, sit, stand, work and interact in the Japanese theatrical tradition of Shosa. The stylized movement of Shosa comes from Kabuki theater and helps to create the graceful atmosphere found in Japanese period films.&nbsp;“If you don’t pay attention to the details, the slightest flaw can make the characters, the setting and the time period look false, and the viewer will not be able to travel back in time to that world,” explains Toru Harada, Technical Supervisor.Period authenticity was woven into the movements and behaviors of not only the lead characters but the hundreds of background performers who appear as villagers, samurai in battle, ladies-in-waiting in the palaces, courtesans in the teahouse and koshōs attending to their lords. In addition to on-set consulting and guidance, cast and background performers received group training with advisors prior to filming, where they learned the specific movements of the period and of their character’s status and role. One such example was the fundamental behavior of the samurai, primarily taught by Hannojoh, Master of Gestures, and Daiki Ishida, Samurai Movement Advisor. For example, if a character has a sword, the actor had to know how to draw it, how to hold it and the proper stance.

Even the simplest of actions have meaning and significance and needed to be taught. If a door is being shut or a cup is being placed on a tray, these actions should not make a noise. Those whose roles involved serving, learned that they must slide a tray away from the diner, then lift it straight up at a 90-degree angle. In the Shosa tradition, samurai and high-class women were taught not to walk diagonally across a space or make rounded turns. Rather, they would make sharp angles when walking so that their movements were deliberate and orderly. The women were trained to angle their feet toward each other and practiced small shuffling steps, allowing for the ideal movement: the glide. This movement evolved after the time period of Shōgun, with the development of the narrow kimono, as did many of the Shosa movements, but together they help evoke a sense of time and place.&nbsp;Akiko Kobayashi was the Period Movement Advisor and also played “Setsu,” “Mariko’s” lady-in-waiting. Kobayashi focused on training the women in particular. “Gestures are very important when filming period dramas. The food they ate, the clothes they wore, their physique and their lives were different than how ours are today. That means their movements were also different,” she says. “For people who had never sat on a tatami mat, had never sat with their legs under them or worn a kosode, it was important that they learned the gestures that accompany these actions.”Training took place on and off set. “I would explain that high-ranking women always stand tall against the earth,” says Kobayashi. “They have good posture, even when picking things up. They don’t crouch down, they sit and stand up straight. I would convey what they should practice daily. There are muscles that are not usually used, so I would teach exercises that they could do at home based on what they would be doing.”Harada summarizes his role as an Advisor. “There are words such as giri, which means duty, and ninjō, which means humanity, in Japanese culture. They play very important roles in this story, and I was very careful to take that into account.”

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The authentic portrayal of traditional gestures and movement was essential to the filming of Shōgun.

Toranaga’s clothing being adjusted for FX's Shōgun

Gestures and Movements | FX Shōgun