Shogun takes home Best Drama Series and breaks multiple Emmy records with a total of 18 wins

The FX historical drama series, Shogun, swept the 2024 Emmy Awards and bagged a record-breaking 18 wins out of its 25 nominations. Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks created the series that broke multiple Emmy records while being incredibly successful.

The 10-episode series narrates a chapter from the history of feudal Japan and is based on James Clavell's novel of the same name. It is set in Japan in 1600 when the country was set to fight a century-defining civil war.

The synopsis of the show reads:

“Lord Yoshii Toranaga” (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.”

The show was renewed for two more seasons and is currently in development. Additionally, its performance at the 2024 Emmys is nothing short of historic, leaving fans wanting more of it.

---

Nominated for 25 awards, Shogun wins 18 Emmy Awards

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on September 15, 2024, and saw FX's Shogun win four awards. The show had previously won 14 awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards held on September 7 and 8, 2024.

The series has left its mark on television history with a total of 18 wins. This is a list of all the awards the series won:

1. Best Drama
2. Best Actress in a Drama Series – Anna Sawai
3. Best Actor in a Drama Series - Hiroyuki Sanada
4. Best Directing for a Drama Series - Frederick E.O. Toye
5. Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Néstor Carbonell)
6. Best Sound Mixing
7. Best Sound Editing
8. Best Period Costumes
9. Best Production Design
10. Best Main Title Design
11. Best Special Visual Effects
12. Best Period/Fantasy Makeup
13. Best Prosthetic Makeup
14. Best Stunt Performance
15. Best Casting for a Drama Series
16. Best Period/Fantasy Hairstyling
17. Best Picture Editing
18. Best Cinematography

---

The FX series has broken multiple Emmy records

By the time Shogun headed into the Primetime Emmys, it already broke the record for most wins in one season by bagging 14 wins at the Creative Arts Emmy. Previously, HBO’s 2008 miniseries John Adams held this record, with 13 wins.

The FX series’ history-making run also sees it going well past shows like HBO’s Game Of Thrones, which saw 12 wins in three different years (2015, 2016, 2019). Similarly, shows like The Crown, The Queen’s Gambit, and Watchmen accomplished the feat of winning 11 Emmys in a year each.

Shogun is now the first Japanese-language series to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It is also the second non-English-language series to be nominated in this category, after the Korean-language series Squid Game.

---

Shogun: Cast and crew

Hiroyuki Sanada, who won the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series, produced the show. Other producers include Eriko Miyagawa, Erin Smith, and Tom Winchester. The executive producers of the shows are Michaela Clavell, Rachel Kondo, Michael De Luca, Edward L. McDonnell, and Justin Marks.

Jonathan van Tulleken, Charlotte Brändström, Frederick E.O. Toye, Hiromi Kamata, Takeshi Fukunaga, and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour took turns to direct the episodes. Among them, Frederick E.O. Toye was awarded an Emmy for Best Directing for a Drama Series.

The cast of the show includes:

• Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga
• Cosmo Jarvis as Pilot Major John Blackthorne
• Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko
• Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige
• Néstor Carbonell as Vasco Rodrigues
• Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi
• Yasunari Takeshima as Tonomoto Akinao / Muraji
• Toshi Toda as Sugiyama Josui
• Ned Dennehy as the Captain-General
• Yukijiro Hotaru as Nakamura Hidetoshi
• Yuki Kedoin as Takemaru
• Eita Okuno as Saeki Nobutatsu
• Hitoshi Masaki as Tomono

---

Shogun is currently available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.