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In 1980, a TV adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel “Shogun” stunned viewers abroad. The story of an English sailor navigating political machinations in feudal Japan sparked a fascination with all things related to the country.

Forty years later, a new adaptation of the same story again aroused considerable interest in Japan. The latest version of ‘Shogun’, created by US channel FX and created by a joint US-Japanese team, won over viewers around the world with its tale of cross-cultural intrigue after its premiere in February. The series received critical acclaim and high ratings before taking home the Emmy Awards, including its first series non-English speaking winner for the best drama. “It was an East-West dream project,” said Hiroyuki Sanada in his acceptance speech for the leading actor in a drama series award.

The show’s success capped a year in which Japanese television, buoyed by support from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, unveiled new creative ambitions at home and abroad. “Shogun”’s triumph at the Emmys offered a moment similar to the South Korean film “Parasite,” which won the 2020 Oscar for best picture. It was a major achievement for everyone involved in the project, but it also served as an exclamation point. for a sector that was already creating great work.

Trans-Pacific Partnerships

Before the 2020s, Japan-related TV already enjoyed foreign attention, especially for its calming and relaxing nature through reality shows such as “Terrace house“And”Ainori Love Wagon: Asian Journey.” One of the biggest streaming hits in recent history was “Tidying up with Marie Kondo”, where conflicts rarely rise above whether or not to throw a pair of socks in the trash. While reviews were generally positive, there were also backhanded compliments describing programs such as ‘Terrace House’ as ‘a show where nothing happens.”

Such low-stakes offerings were at odds with the attention paid to Western prestige TV — the schemes of “Succession,” the excitement of “Game of Thrones” and, ultimately, the audacity of the South Korean hit “Squid Game ‘. Streaming original movies like Netflix’s ‘Alice In Borderland,’ which debuted its first season in January 2020, made some inroads into this kind of ‘blockbuster TV’ territory, but still felt overshadowed on the world stage.

That all changed with ‘Shogun,’ which used the strengths of both Japan and Hollywood to create a bona fide hit that critics loved. It was the defining Japanese assault on prestige TV this year, but it wasn’t the only one. The past 12 months also saw the second season of crime thriller ‘Tokyo Vice’ air on Max, along with Netflix’s action-packed ‘House of Ninjas’. Both series also involved trans-Pacific partnerships and, like ‘Shogun’, did not shy away from using a healthy dose of Japanese dialogue.

Programs like these point to the ambitions of Japanese creators and actors to make a name for themselves abroad, and are open to Hollywood’s help in creating the kind of epic series that can stand out in a flood of streaming options. The Japanese entertainment industry appears to have been cured of the Galapagos Syndrome. “Shogun,” in particular, underscored foreign audiences’ growing interest in deep dives into Japanese history. A second and third seasons of “Shogun” are already on their way, and film studios such as A24 are also starting to look at samurai stories. If you have a script set during the Meiji Restoration, now is the time to pitch.

Big swings

When it comes to Japanese television, however, the year did not belong exclusively to Hollywood, as domestic productions also made their mark.

On paper, the concept for the TBS drama would be “Extremely Inappropriate!” (“Futekisetsu nimo Hodo ga Aru!”) is a high concept. A chauvinistic school teacher from the 1980s accidentally boards a time-travel bus that takes him to modern-day Tokyo. There he tries to adapt to a world that is very different from the bubble era he knows so well. Oh, the show is also partly musical.

The end result of this crazy premise gave us one of the the best TV shows of the year. “Very inappropriate!” manages to be funny and emotionally rich while commenting on Japanese society past and present. Entertainment news site U-Next Square arranged it as the best drama of the first half of the year, while Nikkei Trendy magazine named it one of the “top entertainment trends” of 2024. The abbreviated Japanese title of the series: “Futehodo” also gave us the biggest buzzword of the year, demonstrating the extent of its cultural impact.

Buzzwords aside, the creative impact can be felt more behind the scenes as domestic television continues to experience greater changes. In addition to ‘Extremely Inappropriate!’ This year’s most popular drama series include “Eye Love You,” which focuses on a Japanese-Korean romance with a main character who has telekinetic powers, and “Antihero,” a court-oriented series with morally gray characters. (a prestige TV staple!). It’s worth noting that both also come from TBS.

Streaming services, meanwhile, continue to create original series that resonate with domestic viewers and have the potential to attract attention abroad. Netflix Japan led the way in 2024 with three heavyweight offerings, including “House of Ninjas.” This summer “Scammers from Tokyo‘ explored the world of real estate scammers and delivered such a level of drama that binging the entire series seemed like the best way to consume it. A few months later, Netflix rolled out “The queen of villains”, a brutal biopic about female professional wrestler Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto. Both shows offered the kind of character-driven, edge-of-your-couch pacing associated with modern prestige TV. After years of fun, there was now a new wave of shows that stood out for how tense they felt.

Attuning to new perspectives

But television this year wasn’t just about imitating the big-budget prestige series that were a hit in households abroad. On the contrary, in 2024, there were many voices represented on Japanese screens that had long been overlooked by broadcast offerings.

“Very inappropriate!” may have attracted viewers with Showa Era (1926-89) nostalgia and offbeat musical numbers, but it succeeded thanks to its character explorations of old-school Showa men and today’s single mothers. ‘Eye Love You’ was based on a well-known trope about people with paranormal powers, but it was more about cross-cultural relationships. And as the year nears its end, one of the breakouts of the fall season has been “TBS.”Lion no Kakurega”, a series with a main character on the autism spectrum, something rarely seen in a network drama.

The pursuit of new perspectives also carried over into the reality show sphere this year. Netflix’s “The Boyfriend” moves at a similar pace to “Terrace House,” featuring a variety of young singles living together and working shifts in a coffee truck. But the problem is that every participant is gay, making it the first LGBTQ dating show in Japan.

And while it’s not quite “The Golden Bachelor,” the second season of Netflix’s “Love Village” brings people 35 and older together for their “last” chance at love. Despite being set in an idyllic setting in Okinawa where the participants have plenty of free time, the series reminds viewers of the ups and downs of Japanese singles approaching 40 as they make their way in the world, rather than relegating them to roles as happily married mothers and fathers. .

The era of low-key Japanese TV was certainly a big help during the most uncertain days of the pandemic, when many of those shows were discovered or rewatched. As we strive to break with that period, however, television has decided that life is worth living and that Japanese stories – whether from the seventeenth century or the 1980s – are worth living to tell.

The top hits on television of the decade so far

The first half of the 1920s brought greater access to Japanese TV – and more variety – thanks to a proliferation of streaming services. While that has made it harder to catch the top programs, there is now plenty of room for new ideas to flourish.

2020

Biggest show: “Alice In Borderland”

Writer’s Choice: “Followers”

In 2020, Netflix started offering high-quality television in earnest, starting with the action-packed offering ‘Alice In Borderland’. Yet it was “Followers,” a drama that took a fresh look at women’s lives in the age of social media, that said just as much about the streaming service’s ambitions and had a lot more heart.

2021

Biggest show: “Tokyo MER: Mobile Emergency Room”

Writer’s Choice: “The Way of the Hot and Spicy”

2021 was by far the least exciting year for Japanese TV in the decade so far (if you ignore all the anime), but there were good reminders of what the nation’s entertainment industry is doing right. For many, these were medical dramas. For me, they were food shows focused on very specific topics, such as extremely spicy dishes.

2022

Greatest show: “Silent”

Writer’s Choice: “Old Enough!”

The late-year drama ‘Silent’ turned out to be a blockbuster domestically, centering on a romance between a deaf man and his former flame. It presented both classic J-drama theater and an empathetic point of view. Yet the worldwide big surprise was a recut version of a reality show in which toddlers do their own shopping. “Old enough!” Foreign audiences cooed over cute antics and debated whether such a show would be possible at home.

2023

Biggest show: “Vivant”

Writer’s Choice: “Brush Up Life”

TBS’ ‘Vivant’ aimed for blockbuster TV, with a high budget, shooting locations in Mongolia and a plot involving corporate espionage and terrorism. The over-the-top nature of the show made it appointment viewing, but those looking for cleverness and humor had “Brush Up Life.” The story of a woman who keeps getting opportunities to start her life over was a highlight of rollicking J-drama.

2024

Biggest show: “Shogun”

Writer’s Choice: “Extremely Inappropriate!”

It’s hard to compete with “Shogun,” a trans-Pacific production that scored big ratings, critical acclaim and Emmy buzz. Yet nothing in Japan came close to the hilarious gags of “Extremely Inappropriate!”, a time-travel comedy and musical with surprisingly succinct interpretations of Japanese society past and present.