Where to watch Shōgun in Australia

One of the biggest shows of 2024 is now streaming in Australia. Here are your viewing options.

Shōgun is officially the biggest show of the year with an unprecedented 18 wins at the 2024 Emmy Awards including Best Drama, Best Lead Actress (Anna Sawai) and Best Lead Actor (Hiroyuki Sanada).

Based on the best-selling novel by James Clavell, the story takes place in feudal Japan during the chaotic onset of the Edo period.

With epic costumes, political intrigue and lashings of sudden violence, it's basically Game of Thrones with samurai.

Where to watch Shōgun in Australia

Shōgun was produced by the American pay TV company FX.

In Australia, the series can be streamed in full on Disney+.

Are there any other ways to watch Shōgun in Australia?

Shōgun is also available on the US video streaming service Hulu. While not yet available in Australia, it is technically possible to access Hulu via a VPN.

However, this isn't particularly cost effective once you factor in exchange rates and VPN costs. It is also against Hulu's terms of service, if you care about that sort of thing.

Shōgun season 2 (minor spoilers ahead)

The makers of Shōgun confirmed via The Hollywood Reporter that the show will be returning for two more seasons. This is despite the 2024 limited series covering the entirety of James Clavell's novel.

Intriguingly, producer and lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada has suggested that unused material from the novel could be included in future seasons, which suggests the use of flashbacks.

This would facilitate the return of cast members who did not survive the first season. (If you have watched the show, you know which characters we are talking about.)

There are also plenty of story beats to mine from the civil war between Lord Toranaga and his political rivals, which was only briefly glimpsed via narration in the final episode.

Sanada also said that he expects James Clavell's estate to be involved in story development, which should be reassuring to book fans.

What is the cheapest way to watch Shōgun ?

For a limited time, you can get 3 months of Disney+ for only $13.99. That's a total saving of 66%!

That gives you more than enough time to binge the entire series.

The only catch is that you need to be a new customer and need to sign up before 28 September 2024.

Get 3 months of Disney Plus for just $13.99: Sign up to save nearly $30 before 28 September 2024

About Shōgun

Shōgun follows the intertwined destinies of three characters in 17th century Japan: John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis); a shipwrecked English sailor who washes ashore near a fishing village, Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada); a powerful feudal lord with shadowy ambitions and Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai); a noblewoman caught in the crossfire of political machinations.

Based on the novel of the same name by James Clavell, the story takes place over 10 action-packed episodes against the backdrop of a century-defining civil war.

About the author

If you can't get enough of Shōgun, your next port of call is the novel of the same name by James Clavell.

Clavell was an interesting character whose real-life experiences during World War 2 helped to inform the book. (He was in a shipwreck and spent time as a Japanese captive.)

His main claims to fame are writing the screenplays for The Fly (1958) and The Great Escape (1963), two films that went on to become all-time classics of their respective genres.

He also wrote, produced and directed To Sir, with Love (1967) starring Sidney Poitier.

In addition to Shōgun, Clavell wrote 5 more books in the so-called Asian Saga series: Tai-Pan, Gai-Jin, King Rat, Noble House and Whirlwind.

With the exception of Gai-Jin, none of the other titles in the Asian Saga are connected to Shōgun, with each taking place in a different era and country.

You can grab the collected works on Amazon for $78.34, or the standalone Shōgun novel for $22.99.

Here are the links to buy:

Shōgun: 1

After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom.

Buy now

The Complete Asian Saga Series by James Clavell

Get the 6-book collection in one package: Shōgun Tai-Pan, Gai-Jin, King Rat, Noble House and Whirlwind.

Buy now