'Shogun' Makes BC Look Like Japan & Here's Where The Hit Show Was Filmed In Canada

Ucluelet

Part of the 10-episode series was filmed in Ucluelet, which is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in B.C.

According to the CTV News report, scenes were shot at both Wya Point and near the Tofino airport.

"We wanted to open the show with the beautiful scenery of the Wya Point Beach in Ucluelet," Smith told CTV in 2021.

"It’s a very beautiful place. We have a lot of cast and crew from Japan that were quite fascinated and blown away by the resemblance of that spot to Japan."

Filming of the show brought an influx of people to the area with around 340 cast and crew members.

While that might seem like a big group, filming was scaled back due to it being in production during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"You have to bring double the amount of trucks and trailers," Smith told CTV.

"Capacity is 50 per cent in all the hair and makeup trailers. Every single actor and background performer has to be in a special wig, of the hairstyle of the time. Just the mass amount of people that it takes to get that ready in the morning and undone at the end of the day."

Port Moody

Port Moody, which is located in the Metro Vancouver Regional District, was a primary location during filming.

Screen Rant reports various sets were built in the city to make it look like Japan.

So how exactly was this achieved?

According to the website BC Creates, the production team imported items from Japan, including swords, ropes, fabrics and other props. Even a Japanese Pine tree was brought over and planted on set. It was later gifted to the community of Port Moody and planted outside of city hall once filming was complete.

The crew also consulted with cultural advisors and experts in Japan to ensure that the series stayed "true to the era."

Speaking to Variety, production designer Helen Jarvis went into more detail about what it took to build the various sets in Port Moody.

Jarvis said the crew transformed two exterior backlots and two soundstages to create what they needed for Shogun. Those sets included a fishing village, a harbour, royal palaces and samurai houses.

To build the ships for the show, Jarvis says they took parts from a previous film she worked on (Disney’s Peter Pan and Wendy) and used them in Shogun. She also got help from Douglas Brooks, an expert who specializes in the art of Japanese boat building.

"He was incredibly helpful. He had gone to Japan to teach boat building and knew about wooden hulls," Jarvis told Variety.

Another set was built on an empty lot along the waterfront in Port Moody to resemble Osaka and a fishing village.

"It had been a man-man inlet made for a cedar factory that had closed ten years ago. This plot was large and had old lumber mill equipment, and the owners let us have the lot for a year," Jarvis said in the Variety interview.

The largest set was built for the ceremonial hall in the palace, which according to Variety was 180 feet by 110 feet and three stories high.

The cast of Shogun loved filming in B.C.

Even though they were far away from Japan, the cast had nothing but positive things to say about their time filming in B.C.

Speaking to Yahoo Canada, Hiroyuki Sanada thanked Canada, "especially Vancouver," for everything that was provided during production.

"It was a perfect place to make a samurai drama because they had a big, great, beautiful studio, and then 30 minutes drive from the studio they have everything, forest, river, beach, parks, mountains," Sanada told Yahoo Canada.

"We created the full castle, ... stone wall and the village, the whole village, and the whole Osaka harbour. It was amazing."

The lead actor and producer of the series also told the outlet that they hired a Japanese crew to make Shogun as authentic as possible. Sanada said the crew collaborated well with the Canadian team.

"It was a dream East meets West company in Vancouver. And also, a lot of extras from Vancouver. ... They worked so hard, I'd love to say thank you to the Vancouver extras."