English

In this podcast, host Emily Yoshida and guests break down episode 3 of the TV series Shōgun. One of the guests is Helen Jarvis, the head of the art department. Helen talks about the rebuilding of the castle and city of Osaka. Osaka was a new city planned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the Taikō). In just a few years, Osaka became a world-class city bursting with economic and cultural activity. The castle itself was as large as a large city. South and west of the castle were the mansions of the warlords. Further to the west was the city with its commercial districts, and on the westernmost edge was a small port called Denpōchō. It was my sincere wish to reconstruct the castle and city as they would have looked in 1600. The Art Department and Visual Effects did a wonderful job in reconstructing the city as accurately as possible. They used several primary sources, some of which are preserved in Nichibunken’s library.

(Frederik Cryns)