I am no fan of Japanese militarism – indeed, my Chinese family (in Hong Kong) suffered terribly from its brutallity during WWII. Furthermore, my Singapoean friends have aslo told me of the atrocities committed in that country by Imperial Japanese Forces. But things were not always like this. Prior to the 1868 Meiji Restoration – Japan used to have a respectful attitude toward China – acknowledging the cultural debt it owed this ancestral country (the story of Medieval “Shogun” often conveys this reality). With the advent of rightwing nationalism – Japanese ideologically broke this tie – and propagated the (false) idea that its culture developed only from itself (in isolation). This attitude was maintained post-1945 by the US for political reasons. The Japanese people that I know still think like this and I cannot discuss anything Chinese with them.
On the other hand, if US-born (Asian) actors – pretending to be a) Japanese and b) medieval – presses your buttons then this show is definitely for you. An extra treat is in store if you like random White (European) people pretending to be a) English, and b) Elizabethan. The fact Japan is currently (and deliberately) pumping nuclear waste into the South China Sea has much to do with the manner in which this mini-series has been received. This happens at a time when Japan continues to antagonise China by refusing to acknowledge internationally recognised boundaries – whilst not apologising for WWII atrocities! A positive US decreed media consensus has declared this piece of parody (and Eurocentric mimicry) to be universally a ‘great success’.
In reality, this (2024) incarnafion of Shogun is a US propaganda tool used to artificially boost the international image and flagging prestige of Japan. Japan, of course, is a US colony and a permanently occupied country. When Japan lost WWII to the US – Japan lost its right to self-determination. This has led to the Japanese media meekly following the dictates of Washington whilst remaining ‘silent’ whilst it’s people (and culture) is once again misrepresented and turned into a fetish for White (Western) recreation and leisure. Even the greatest of films possess their detractors – but not Disney’s “Shogun” – which comes across more like a second-rate Game of Thrones series (filmed in Eire) than a genuine (historically correct) show filmed on location in Japan. As for the swordsmanship, the choreography is awful and more Hollywood than Kurosawa! The fight scenes are an insult to Japanese martial arts and Japanese film making!
The original 1980 series of Shogun was (and remains) the definitive film version of James Clavell’s novel – “Shogun”. Filmed in Japan and containing genuine and well known Japanese actors – the violence still remains shocking and yet peculiarly ‘Japanese’ – as it is genuine and appropriatelt stylised. There are no Western-born (Asian) actors ‘pretending’ to be “ethnically” Japanese – when every part of their demeanour cries out “I’m from America”! I cannot think of any greater racism than to limit a person to their outer shell – when their inner reality is something quite different from the character they are being asked to portray. Asian people born and brought up in the West think, talk and act in a certain manner that is very different from people born and brought up in Asia – whilst both examples remain “Asian” – only in different ways (such is the power of “Diversity”). After-all, a White Englishman (from Elizabethan England) sailor once made his way to Japan – and made history whilst not being Asian.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 