10 Books To Read if You Love ‘Shōgun’

The 2024 miniseries *Shōgun*, adapted from James Clavell’s novel and set in Edo-period Japan, has prompted its creators to develop a second season after its success. For viewers waiting for it, the article recommends books that explore samurai culture, political history and encounters between East and West.

The suggestions include Clavell’s *Tai-Pan*, set in British Hong Kong after the First Opium War, and Shūsaku Endō’s *The Samurai*, which follows a Japanese diplomatic mission to Europe and Mexico in the 17th century. Eiji Yoshikawa’s *Taiko*, a 900-plus-page account of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s rise and death in 1598, offers historical context for the series; the article also begins discussing *The African Samurai*, about Yasuke, a man from present-day Mozambique who became Lord Nobunaga’s bodyguard.