Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the Shōgun finale.

The Big Picture

Shōgun
‘s Yabushige was a hard character to play for actor Tadanobu Asano, constantly shifting loyalties and motives in feudal Japan.
Asano reunited with co-star Hiroyuki Sanada on
Shōgun
, which brought depth to their characters’ relationship.
Yabushige’s emotional collapse after Mariko’s death shows his complex journey and inner conflict.

As FX’s epic series, Shōgun, comes to a close this week, the adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel by creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks has proven to be a masterclass in character work, as the central conflict in feudal Japan became more complicated and entangled with every subsequent episode. While some members of the broad ensemble could be considered more noble figures, chief among them the enigmatic and oft-inscrutable Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), others are much more likely to scheme and manipulate to get what they want — none moreso than Lord Kashigi Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), who became an unpredictable force in the series, as well as a fan-favorite character, due to his constantly shifting loyalties.

Ahead of Shōgun’s finale premiering this week, an installment that saw many fates rendered more definitive — including Yabushige’s — Collider had the opportunity to speak with Tadanobu Asano about his journey to being cast in the series, his interpretation of his character’s actions in the finale, and the emotions he felt after filming his final scene for the show. The renowned actor from films such as 47 Ronin, Silence, and Gohatto also discusses reuniting with co-star Hiroyuki Sanada on the FX series, figuring out the complexities of Yabushige and Blackthorne’s relationship alongside Cosmo Jarvis, and more.

Shogun (2024) When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.

COLLIDER: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about Shōgun. Yabushige has become one of my favorite characters on the show, and that’s in large part because of your performance.

TADANOBU ASANO: Thank you very much.

Before diving into the finale, I was wondering if you could talk about how you first came to be involved with the show.

ASANO: It was a few years ago that I had gone to L.A., and my U.S. manager told me about this project called Shōgun that was actually under a different production at that time. I had met the producers, but they hadn’t decided which role they wanted me to play at that point. So, that was that, but then during those few years I heard that the project was still ongoing, and then they came back to me after that. That’s when they said to me that they wanted me to play Yabushige.

Speaking of Yabushige, what was your first impression of him as a character compared to the way you feel about him now that you’ve played the role?

ASANO: When I first read the script, he was as all of us pictured him. He’s quite a trickster and he betrays a lot. It was really up to me to figure out how to flesh this out so that it was a very interesting and kind of engaging character. I would try several things on set to see how that would go. And so, it was in trying all these things that I was able to create the character within myself as the production went along. Now that everything’s done, although it was a character of my own making, it was quite a hard character to play, I must say. [Laughs]

Tadanobu Asano on Reuniting with Hiroyuki Sanada for ‘Shōgun’
Image via FX

You’ve worked with Hiroyuki Sanada in the past, but what felt different about the experience between the two of you on Shōgun?

ASANO: With Sanada-san, I worked with him for the very time about 30 years ago. I was only 19 years old at the time. After that, I had the fortune of working with him, as you probably know, on 47 Ronin, which was another Hollywood production that is based in feudal Japan. It had been 10 years since 47 Ronin doing Shōgun together this time. I really went into the project feeling that I wanted to — it was a precious thing to me what my senpai, in other words, my superior, as someone who’s above me, was doing. I wanted to value that. Having seen his career over the years, I went into the project just wanting to do whatever I could to cooperate with him and bring to fruition whatever he was envisioning.

Among the relationships your character has over the course of the show, one of them is with Blackthorne. It’s very fascinating because the two of them come close to being friends in a way. What did you enjoy most about playing through that evolution with Cosmo [Jarvis]?

ASANO: Cosmo Jarvis, he’s such an interesting and funny actor. Because of how he is, I was able to really, purely be Yabushige in my relationship with him on screen. The interesting thing about Yabushige is that he does not treat Blackthorne as an outsider. He does not treat him as a foreigner. He does all of these evil things to him, of course, that we can see throughout the series, but he would have done the same kinds of things to Japanese people, as well. So, he’s quite different from the other samurai in that Blackthorne and the other Japanese are kind of on equal positioning. It was because Cosmo’s such a funny and interesting person that I was able to bring that forth, as well.

Tadanobu Asano Explains Why Yabushige Is So Affected by Mariko’s Death in ‘Shōgun’
Image via FX

Looking ahead to the final episodes, one thing that really struck me about Yabushige’s journey is how affected he is after Mariko dies, not just physically, but the emotional collapse that he has. How does that change him from the person he was before?

ASANO: I think this goes for all warlords or samurai that were living in that warring states period in feudal Japan. They were all living under this unbelievable, unfathomable force that we cannot see. They were very, very repressed in the rules of society in their world. The death of Mariko brought him a sense of relief, in a way, because it brought him a realization that, perhaps, that’s not so. At that point, he thinks about Blackthorne, and he thinks that perhaps Blackthorne can show him a world that is not so, or that is not under these invisible forces which everybody in Japan represses themselves and abides by. That’s why he’s so utterly confused in the instance where he sees the death of Mariko.

I wanted to ask you about your feelings regarding Yabushige’s fate at the end of the show when his role is uncovered, and his punishment. What was your reaction to that and where he ends up?

ASANO: It’s a very Yabushige thing to ask for Blackthorne to second him, because I think he’s quite neutral to what is unfolding, or neutral to things happening around him. The other samurai would probably be like, “It’s such an honor to have Lord Toranaga to second me,” whereas he says, “No, no, I want Blackthorne.” It really signifies that Yabushige is a man who is of the moment. He leans into moments.

Yabushige and Toranaga’s conversation on the cliffs feels poetic in a lot of ways and parallels a lot of moments. They’re watching the sunrise together earlier in the season, Yabushige has to meet his death by sunset. They’re sitting by the cliffs, Yabushige almost died to those cliffs at the beginning. What was it like to film that scene with Hiroyuki Sanada, and what were your emotions after it was all done?

ASANO: They were very complicated sentiments that I had after having wrapped my part in the show. One was having a sense of just this fulfillment of having done this character. And also, it was kind of bittersweet to know that this long shoot in Vancouver was coming to an end. Also, there’s a sense of, “There’s really nothing I can do about it,” because no matter which way things go, the only denouement for Yabushige is to die. There was really nothing I could do about that, so it was just a mix of very complicated feelings.

Tadanobu Asano Had To Be in an “Episode 6 Mindset From Episode 1” on ‘Shōgun’
Image via FX

Yabushige is constantly writing and rewriting his will over the course of the show. Was there ever a conversation with the writers about what he’s changing in it, or why he’s changing it so often?

ASANO: I actually forgot the first instance in which Yabushige orders to rewrite his will. But to talk about the entire process — or the character arc, and how I tried to be in sync with the character, I’ve done many Japanese dramas like this in Japan, as well, and usually you’re kind of in sync with the audience. As the series proceeds, you start to mold the character as the story unfolds. This time around, that was going to be too late if I was working in tandem with all the episodes unfolding. So, I knew I had to be on top of my character even before we would shoot whatever developed with my arc. I knew that I already had to be in Episode 6 mindset from Episode 1. I had to be ahead of the story.

They do give us a broad outline of how the entire tale will unfold beforehand, but then they kind of piecemeal. They give us the completed script as we go along. I knew that, for example, when the story arc shows Yabushige ordering to rewrite his will, there would be another story like that in following episodes. I thought the first time that happened I would have to jump on that, and I would talk to Justin [Marks] beforehand, and I would throw all of these ideas at him as to what Yabushige would do the next time that happened. He would probably just not bother even rewriting the will himself. He would just have his subordinates do it. It’s because he’s a character who thinks nothing of killing other people, but for him, death is kind of fascinating, which is why he would do such a thing. I was always ahead of myself in terms of episodes, so that’s how it all unfolded.

Shōgun is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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