Shōgun Season 2 Cast Revealed as Production Begins Soon

New and returning cast members join Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis as FX’s record-breaking hit prepares for its second season.
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Deadline reports that FX’s acclaimed drama Shōgun is officially moving forward with Season 2. Production is set to begin in Vancouver in January 2026, bringing back key actors and introducing new faces to the historical saga.

What's Happening:

  • FX’s smash hit Shōgun will begin production on Season 2 in Vancouver in January.
  • New additions include Asami Kizukawa as Aya, Masataka Kubota as Hyūga, Sho Kaneta as Hidenobu, Takaaki Enoki as Lord Ito, and Jun Kunimura as Gōda.
  • Returning Season 1 cast set to return includes Fumi Nikaidô as Ochiba, Shinnosuke Abe as Buntaro, Hiroto Kanai as Omi, Yoriko Dôguchi as Kiri, Tommy Bastow as Alvito, Yuko Miyamoto as Gin, Eita Okuno as Saeki, and Yuka Kouri as Kiku.
  • New episodes will be available via linear on FX and streaming on Hulu for U.S. audiences, and internationally on Disney+.
  • The writing staff includes Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks, Shannon Goss, Matt Lambert, Maegan Houang, Emily Yoshida, Caillin Puente, and Sofie Somoroff.
  • Returning directors Hiromi Kamata and Takeshi Fukunaga will be joined by new additions Anthony Byrne, Kate Herron, and Marks.

What to Expect in Season 2

  • The first season, an original adaptation of James Clavell’s novel, detailed Lord Yoshii Toranaga’s (Sanada) struggle for survival against the Council of Regents. The arrival of the English pilot John Blackthorne (Jarvis) on a mysterious European ship provided Toranaga with crucial strategic secrets, ultimately tipping the balance of power and leading to a civil war victory.
  • Season 2 of Shōgun will pick up ten years after the events of the first, continuing the history-inspired tale of Toranaga and Blackthorne, two men from vastly different worlds whose destinies remain intertwined.
  • The announcement, which took place at the Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific Disney+ Originals Preview in Hong Kong, also confirmed the creative teams behind the new season.
  • The Season 2 writing staff features Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks, Shannon Goss, Matt Lambert, Maegan Houang, Emily Yoshida, Caillin Puente, and Sofie Somoroff. Directors for the season will include returning Season 1 helmers Hiromi Kamata (who directed Episode 6, “Ladies of the Willow World”) and Takeshi Fukunaga (who directed Episode 7, “A Stick of Time”), alongside new additions Anthony Byrne (Say Nothing), Kate Herron (Loki), and writer Justin Marks.
  • Shōgun was the standout series of the 2024 Emmy Awards, setting a new record by winning 18 statuettes from its 25 nominations—the most for a series in a single season. The show also made history for its stars, with Sanada becoming the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Anna Sawai becoming the first actress of Asian descent to win Lead Actress in the same category.

The Real History Behind Shōgun

  • The narrative of Shōgun is a fictionalized account heavily inspired by real events and historical figures from Japan’s Sengoku period (Warring States period) and the beginning of the Edo period in the early 17th century.
  • The character of Lord Yoshii Toranaga is based on Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 until 1868. Ieyasu rose to power following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, establishing an era of relative peace and stability.
  • The English pilot, John Blackthorne, is based on William Adams, an English navigator who was shipwrecked in Japan in 1600. Adams became a trusted advisor to Ieyasu, who bestowed upon him the title of hatamoto (a high-ranking samurai retainer), making him one of the few Westerners to achieve such status. Adams’s story marks the beginning of complex Western-Japanese relations during this critical period.
  • The series is lauded for its detailed and relatively accurate portrayal of late-Sengoku Japanese culture, political intricacies, and the clash of cultures brought by the first European arrivals. Season 2, set a decade later, will likely explore the stability and challenges of the newly established shogunate, drawing further inspiration from the early years of the Tokugawa era and the eventual seclusion of Japan from foreign influence.

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Daniel Kaplan
Daniel loves theme parks — specifically how the narrative of theme park attractions differs from film or books — and loves debating what constitutes a "good" theme park attraction story.
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