Everything to Know About the 2024 Emmys' Biggest Winner Shogun
It was a record-breaking night for Shogun at the 2024 Emmys.
After sweeping 18 categories, the FX series—which premiered in February—made history by having the most wins of any show in just one season. It’s also the first non-English program to win Outstanding Drama Series (see the full list of winners here).
While Shogun had already secured its highest count record by Emmys night after earning 14 trophies at the Sept. 7 and 8 Creative Arts Emmys, it grew its lead a week later with four more awards. Not only was the show named Outstanding Drama Series, but Frederick E.O also received the Outstanding Directing prize in the category. In addition, Hiroyuki Sanada—who plays warlord Yoshii Toranaga in the drama set in 1600 Japan—took home the lead actor honor.
“It was an east-meets-west dream project with respect,” he told the audience during his acceptance speech, “and Shogun taught me that when people work together, we can make miracle. We can create a better future together.”
Anna Sawai, who portrays noblewoman and translator Lady Toda Mariko, also won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
“Very emotional,” she tearfully told Laverne Cox ahead of the event on Live From E!: Emmys, later adding, “It’s very huge. I’m just so happy for the whole team.”
And she’s thrilled fans have been loving the series.
“Everyone just worked so hard because they wanted the best for the show,” the actress continued. “There were no egos. I’m just happy that everyone’s receiving it, and everyone’s touched by our story.”
With 25 nominations, Shogun was the most-nominated series of the night followed by The Bear (which received 23 nods and won in 11 categories this year) and Only Murders in the Building (which was up in 21 categories and honored in three).
To learn more about the award-winning hit, keep reading.
What is Shogun about?
Based on James Clavell’s novel of the same name, the drama is set in the year 1600. In the premiere of the 10-episode series, the Taiko (former chief advisor to the emperor) dies. But before his death, he reveals his plans for a Council of Regents—consisting of five opposing warlords—to rule until his son is old enough to step in. Among them is Lord Yoshii Toranaga.
“Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him,” FX shares, “when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.”
As the network explains, the series follows Toranaga's story as well as that of Protestant English pilot John Blackthorne—whose ship washes up in Japan and who receives information that could affect his rivals (Portuguese merchants and Jesuit priests) as well as Toranaga—and Lady Toda Mariko, a Christian noblewoman and translator who is dealing with her past and forms a relationship with Blackthorne.
Who stars in Shogun?
Hiroyuki Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga while Anna Sawai portrays Lady Toda Mariko and Cosmo Jarvis takes on the role of John Blackthorne. Other cast members include Tadanobu Asano, Hiroto Kanai, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Tokuma Nishioka, Shinnosuke Abe, Yuki Kura, Yuka Kouri and Fumi Nikaido.
Where can you watch Shogun?
You can watch the FX series on Hulu and Disney+.
Is there going to be a Shogun season two?
Yes! FX previously announced that the network, Hulu and the Estate of James Clavell are working to extend the series for both a season two and a season three.
Considering the first installment already ran through Clavell’s novel, the second will now have to go beyond the page.
“There’s a lot of chaos but creative chaos, where we’re throwing everything that we have at the wall, seeing what sticks,” Rachel Kondo, who created the show along with Justin Marks, told The Hollywood Reporter in June. “It’s been exciting and nerve-wracking because, obviously, this is uncharted territory — we don’t have a roadmap, we just have history.”
So with the help of Clavell’s estate, she continued, they’re “trying to study his process of curation.” Still, Marks added, a lot of questions remain.
“There’s a lot of great conspiracy theory in history, a lot of different theories about, ‘Oh, it was said that this went on, but this really went on,’ and those little darker corners are what we’ve really enjoyed exploring,” he noted to THR—though it appears there aren’t as many questions for how long the series will run. “The third season is really an ending,” he continued. “We know where it starts, and we know where it ends, and we know who is there on that journey. We’re just focusing on part two right now to really make sure we can get to that point. But part two is, as second chapters go, kind of a darker chapter.”
When will Shogun season two premiere?
While an official release date hasn’t been announced, Sanada—who is also one of the show’s producers—suggested they’re still in the early stages of development.
“We decided to go forward,” he told the Television Academy backstage at the 2024 Emmys, “but just started the writing room and then think about where to go to shoot.”
Of course, Shogun isn’t the first book adaption to find success onscreen. To read about other tomes that made the leap to TV, scroll on.
Miniseries Lessons in Chemistry—based on Bonnie Gramus' 2022 debut novel of the same name—received a total of 10 Emmy noms in 2024, including ones for stars Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King and Millicent Shelton. Both the Apple TV+ series—which earned a nomination for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series—and the book follow chemist Elizabeth Zott (Larson) as she navigates heartache, misogyny and ultimately stardom as a cooking show host in 1960s Southern California.
After Shōgun premiered in 2024, it became the first Japanese-language series to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series—garnering 25 nominations in total at the 2024 Emmys. The FX show is based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name, which focused on events and important figures from Japan in the 1600s, just as the Edo period was beginning. In addition to the 2024 series, the book was previously adapted into a 1980 miniseries and also into a stage musical, board game and video games.
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The second entry in Ryan Murphy's anthology series, 2024's Feud: Capote vs. The Swans tells the story of how celebrated writer Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) ruined his friendships with his "Swans"—a group of New York City socialites—after writing about thinly veiled versions of them in a 1975 Esquire article. Based on Laurence Leamer's 2021 book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era, the FX show boasted a bevy of stars including Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald and the late Treat Williams. The second season earned 10 Emmy nominations in 2024, including acting nods for Hollander, Watts, Williams and Lane.
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Netflix's adaptation of Julia Quinn's romance book series Bridgerton was a cultural phenomenon at the end of 2020. Why? Well, thanks to a diverse cast, an incredible score and some steamy sex scenes, subscribers to the streaming service couldn't get enough of the series. Bridgerton also received critical acclaim, earning an Outstanding Drama Series nomination at the 2021 Emmys.
This drama full of epic battles and star-crossed romance is based on the popular book series by George R.R Martin. While the novels are best-sellers in their own right, the TV show has garnered fans from all over the world, including many who wouldn't even call themselves fans of the source material. Over the course of eight seasons, the HBO series received 58 Emmy Awards, more than any other drama in history. And while viewers remain divided on the controversial conclusion, which saw the series surpass Martin's plotting to reveal an ending all its own, the show will go down as one of the most celebrated of all time.
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Another Liane Moriarty adaptation! In 2021, Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley collaborated once more to bring Moriarty's 2018 novel Nine Perfect Strangers to life. Debuting on Hulu, the series followed Masha Dmitrichenko (Kidman), a wellness retreat guru ready to transform the lives of nine, wait for it, strangers, including Frances (Melissa McCarthy), Lars (Luke Evans), Tony (Bobby Cannavale), Carmel (Regina Hall), Napoleon (Michael Shannon), Jessica (Samara Weaving), Ben (Melvin Gregg), Heather (Asher Keddie) and Zoe (Grace Van Patten).
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