How ‘Shōgun’ Transformed Vancouver Soundstages and Backlots Into Feudal Japan
variety.comJazz Tangcay Artisans Editor It might seem hard to believe after viewing the series, but “Shōgun” production designer Helen Jarvis had never been to Japan, had never read James Clavell’s nearly 1,200-page novel and she had never before worked on a 10-part TV series when she first came on the FX show.
However, she was determined to bring authenticity when it came to her set building, locations and world of feudal Japan in the year 1600.
Whereas the Emmy-winning 1980 miniseries was shot entirely in Japan, the new version was shot in British Columbia — on Vancouver Island and in the suburbs of Vancouver — which added a challenge for Jarvis. “We’re lucky here because we have a similar rugged coastline,” Jarvis says.
As she read through the 10 scripts, she started to imagine how the world would look: “We were going to need a few different backlots to encompass all of the sets, and imagine the sets that are going to have to come apart, get back together again and morph into different interiors.” In the end, Jarvis ended up transforming two exterior backlots and two soundstages to build the world of “Shōgun,” which included a fishing village, a harbor, royal palaces and samurai houses.
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