We may earn a commission from links on this page.
So successful was the first season of Shōgun, based on the 1975 James Clavell novel, that two further seasons have been commissioned to continue the story, even though the adaptation has run out of material.
Set at the tail-end of Japan’s Warring States period, the series sees ambitious English maritime pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) shipwrecked in Japan and in the power of powerful warlord Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). Each of these two men has something to offer the other, and reluctantly serving as the translator between them is Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), who is loyal to Toranaga but has a complicated past.
With analogues from real history, there’s a verisimilitude to everything in this (mostly) Japanese-language drama, alongside the Game of Thrones-esque intrigue and drama. Finding a good streamalike is a little tough: There are plenty of films set during the same rough timeframe, and as many jidaigeki period dramas that are a little harder to stream for audiences outside of Japan. Instead, here are suggestions for other dramas that explore the complicated histories of cultures in transition. Stream Shōgun on Hulu.
Pachinko (2022 – )
Starting in 1915, this multigenerational saga follows one woman (Youn Yuh-jung and Kim Min-ha) and her family from the Japanese occupation of Korea through the decades of the Korean diaspora. With opportunities limited, Sunja leaves her home and family in Busan to pursue a life in Japan, even as racism and anti-immigrant sentiment are rampant through the war years. In a parallel narrative that begins in 1989, we see what has and hasn’t changed for Sunja and her family. It’s as personal as it is epic, with better location cinematography than most movies—and it’s got an opening credits sequence that puts a smile on my face every single time. Stream Pachinko on Apple TV+.
Into the Badlands (2015 – 2019)
A rollicking martial arts drama set in a dystopian future. So, definitely not a historical drama. About 500 years from now, war has eradicated anything resembling civilization and left the planet ravaged, even as some vestiges of technology remain. Still, firearms are largely taboo given the devastation they’ve caused—allowing for an action apocalypse dominated by kick-ass martial arts combat. The Badlands, Rocky Mountains and Mississippi River are transformed into competing feudal-esque kingdoms, dominated by Marton Csokas’s creepy, over-the-top Baron Quinn and, at least initially, his chief lieutenant Sunny (Daniel Wu). Despite the sci-fi trappings, the inspirations here blend wuxia and pre-modern Chinese history, giving the show the feel of history without any strict adherence whatsoever. Stream Into the Badlands on Prime Video.
Deadwood (2004 – 2006, 2019)
There are no major setpiece battles here, and the setting is centuries ahead of, and half a world away from, that of Shōgun. Still, the stakes here are similar, even if the scale is a bit smaller—both shows deal in the bloody, messy, complicated process of building a community and how, at any scale, outside pressures are inescapable. Deadwood drops us into the thick of what we’d eventually call the Wild West, where many an American fortune would be made. One-time sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) comes into the tiny but fast-growing Black Hills town in hope of a new life, but finds himself quickly dealing with the growing pains (to put it mildly) of a nascent American community and the machinations of its real leader, local saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane). Grimy gambling parlors are where the power moves in Deadwood happen, and creator David Chase is interested in the small triumphs and huge compromises that gave birth to modern America. Stream Deadwood on HBO Max.
Samurai Champloo (2004 – 2005)
Set in early Edo Japan (the era birthed by the real-life events that inspired Shōgun), Samurai Champloo references real events, though it’s not a history lesson by any means, and is filled with wildly anachronistic elements (including a hip-hop score). It opens with the execution ceremony for two samurai, Mugen and Jin, then quickly flashes back to the events of the day previous: a waitress named Fuu is being harassed by the son of the village prefect. Mugen, the more irreverent and mercenary of the two, helps her for the promise of free dumplings. The more stoic and honor-obsessed Jin helps because he can’t abide the injustice. The two samurai wind up traveling the country with Fuu in search of the mysterious Sunflower Samurai, kept together by fate and circumstance.This was director Shinichirō Watanabe’s follow-up to Cowboy Bebop, and it carries on its predecessor’s style of standalone stories shot through with subtle overarching plot threads. Stream Samurai Champloo on Crunchyroll or buy it from Prime Video.
Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan (2021)
Despite its composite characters and tweaking of events, Shōgun does a better job at capturing the feel of its era than many a less-fictionalized narrative. Still, it may well leave you with a hunger for more of the real history of late Sengoku period Japan, which is where this documentary series comes in. Age of Samurai uses dramatized recreations (rather than talking heads) to bring the bloody events to life, covering unification of Japan and the decades leading up to the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu (Shōgun‘s Yoshii Toranaga), and the climactic battle that cemented his dynasty’s power for centuries after. Stream Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan on Netflix.
Chief of War (2025 – )
Jason Momoa co-created and stars in this historical drama set in the late 18th century, when Hawaiʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi were locked in their own warring states period while navigating relationships with colonial powers. Mamoa plays real-life Kauaʻi Chief Kaʻiana, who joins in the battle for unification under the future Kamehameha the Great before rebelling. It’s a deeply complicated bit of history, and the show doesn’t shy away from that, but it’s all punctuated by bloody battles and impressively mounted action sequences. Benjamin Hoetjes plays John Young, the British subject who becomes a military advisor to Kamehameha, while Luciane Buchanan plays Kaʻahumanu, princess and power broker. Stream Chief of War on Apple TV+.
Wolf Hall (2015, 2024)
Adapting the Hilary Mantel trilogy across two miniseries, Wolf Hall stars here (rather brilliantly) as Thomas Cromwell, who rose from nothing to become the second most powerful person in Henry VIII’s England—no small thing under the best of circumstances, but very nearly impossible under the rigid class structure of the time and place. On the surface, it’s a quieter drama than many of the others here, but the political machinations are no less intense, and the stakes no less dramatic. It’s Cromwell’s show, but not far in the background is Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn, first an ally and then a bitter enemy; it’s one of the finest portrayals of the much-maligned queen in TV or cinema. Each character quickly comes to realize that they’re walking tightropes, with power deriving from a deeply fickle king whose enormous hubris would come to shape centuries of history. Stream Wolf Hall on PBS or buy it from Prime Video.
Kingdom (2019 – 2021)
It’s not exactly a history lesson, but Kingdom does open a window into the middle of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, an era that ran for over 500 years, to nearly the 20th century—overlapping, for much of that time with Japan’s Edo period, the origins of which are fictionalized in Shōgun. History doesn’t record an actual zombie plague during the early years of the 17th century, though, so a few extra liberties have been taken. As the series opens, rumors are swirling that the king has died, and his son, Crown Prince Lee Chang, is trying to find out the truth. Turns out that the king did, in fact, die—of smallpox—but the Queen Consort and her father, a powerful courtier, have a plan: they’ve given the king a little-known plant that revives him (you can see where this is headed) in the hope of keeping him alive long enough for the queen to bear a son. Since Lee Chang is merely the son of a concubine, he’d lose his claim to the throne in such an event. The show deftly combines horror and medieval-esque political intrigue, making it rather more than the sum of its parts. The show runs for two seasons with a spin-off movie, Ashin of the North. Stream Kingdom on Netflix.
The Last Kingdom (2018 – 2022)
Warring kingdoms. Clashing cultures. Internal and external pressures. These themes echo through history, and we see much of it in The Last Kingdom as in Shōgun. Starting in 866, the show follows Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon), a Saxon taken by Vikings as a child and subsequently raised by a Danish warlord. When his adoptive father is killed by another Dane, he enters the service of Saxon King Alfred, hoping that the alliance will allow him to avenge his loss—instead, he’s forced to choose between the Saxons of his birth and the Danes he came to identify with. This is all against the backdrop of an England of warring kingdoms while facing conquest by outsiders. Stream The Last Kingdom on Netflix.
Jin (2009 – 2011)
Just a time-traveling romance about a modern-day brain surgeon trapped in late Edo-period Japan. Not as weird as it sounds—Japanese pop culture is full of stories of modern people visiting the pre-war Japan, perhaps with a view toward a seemingly simpler time. Takao Osawa stars as the title’s Jin Minakata, who’s spent two years grieving the fiancee who’s been in a vegetative state. A head injury sends him back in time, where he uses his medical knowledge to help people on the sly, even as history unfolds around him. Think Outlander East. Stream Jin on Netflix.
