Shogun

In 1975, Clavell published Shogun, his magnum opus that took the literary critics by storm. New York Times book reviewer Webster Schott wrote, “Clavell has a gift, he breathes narrative; his hero is not a person but a place and a time, medieval Japan on the threshold of becoming a sea power” (Schott 1975). The novel seized the popular imagination, and Blackthorne, Toranaga, Lady Mariko, arigato, and konnichi-wa soon became household words among his readers. Book sales exceeded seven million copies. Eric Majors, a personal friend of Clavell’s associated with Hodder and Stoughton publishers, explained the huge popularity of the book by saying: “It took the Western mind into a completely different world. It was the first time that one began to understand the Japanese.” Indeed, Shogun is considered to be one of the most effective depictions of cross-cultural encounters ever written.
Shogun came to life on televison in 1980 in the form of a five part, 12 hour miniseries shot on location in Japan. It was viewed by an estimated audience of 130 million viewers. Clavell acted as executive producer for a one million dollar fee; he also co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Bercovice. In 1981, a highly compressed version of Shogun was released as a two and one half hour movie. Of note is the fact that Clavell insisted that, for the sake of authenticity, the Japanese speak their own language with no subtitles provided. Thus, the viewers, as Blackthorn did in real life, had to deduce the meaning of verbal exchanges from the context of individuals reactions and facial expressions, or from re-phrasing by one of the English speaking characters. Also in 1981, Clavell wrote an introduction for The Making of James Clavell's Shogun. An illustrated, large format book that relates the trials and tribulations involved      Shogun, based in part upon a true story, is a detailed portrait of feudal Japan in the process of becoming a nation-state dominated by on