Hiroyuki Sanada in ShōgunPhoto: Katie Yu/FXFX’s Shōgun is mesmerizing for multiple reasons. The feudal Japan-set drama boasts phenomenal performances, direction, and production design, with masterful stunts adding to the authentically crafted world of the show. The political chess games played by Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), his allies, and his foes just wouldn’t hit the same if their fights and skilled movements weren’t engaging and accurate to the era. And that’s largely thanks to S
Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii ToranagaPhoto: Katie Yu/FX“A Stick Of Time,” the title of Shōgun’s seventh episode and a phrase employed within it, is not a saying I had encountered before in my limited, white-girl existence. It references incense clocks, which originated in Song Dynasty China and spread from there to Japan and Korea. They measure the passing of minutes/hours/etc. in the time it takes to burn sticks of incense; they also provide a nice visual (and certainly a more poetic one than toda