FX's Shogun Season 2 kicked off 2026 with a major story update from the show's creator. The hit historical drama, which debuted its first season back in 2024, is set to get back in front of cameras early this year, with a second batch of episodes expected sometime in 2027. Despite the series about to start production, relatively little is still known about the project, as it leaves behind the events of James Clavell's classic novel (on which Season 1 was based) and ventures into uncharted territory.
Series creators Justin Marks and Rachel Condou have provided a brief update on the project, offering fans key details about what to expect in Shogun's second season. Speaking with Wired, the pair revealed that Shogun Season 2 can be described as an "experiment in subverting expectations," specifically citing the decision to jump 10 years in the story following the end of Season 1.
"The idea was not to have the beginning of Season 2 serve as an extension of Season 1," Marks explained, "but to create a break and create the first chapter of 'part 2:'"
"We thought that a longer period of time would allow us to focus more attention on the grieving characters. In other words, the idea was not to have the beginning of Season 2 serve as an extension of Season 1—like 'Episode 11'—but to create a break and create the first chapter of 'part 2.''"
While Marks and Condou called Season 1 an emotionally charged web of political agendas, the husband-and-wife creative duo added that Season 2 shifts its focus more to "unpredictable surprises."
To do this, the pair revealed that much of the focus on Season 2 will be put on returning character, Ochiba no Kata. Brought to life by Fumi Nikaido, no Kata-san will fill the void left behind by Anna Sawai's Lady Mariko (read more about what happened to Lady Mariko here):
"In season 1, the role of the ballerina (Anna Sawai) played an important role and functioned as part of the English-language side of the story. In part 2, Ochiba's character is placed at the center of the story."
Marks and Condou admitted that Ochiba is key to the new season, being based on the real-life Yodo-Kun, the history-defining wife of daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi. According to the Shogun showrunners, Season 2 takes place at the height of the Tokugawa regime, centering on the emergence of women in the Japanese political scene.
No release information for Shogun Season 2 has been provided at this time. The Emmy Award-winning series is set to start filming early this year in Vancouver, Canada, with returning stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis leading its stacked cast once again.
Set against the backdrop of Feudal Japan, Shogun focuses on the political machinations of its various daimyos and lords in the months leading up to the Toranaga shogunate. Season 2 will move on from the events described in James Clavell's beloved 1975 novel, jumping ahead in the historical timeline to tell a wholly original story.
What To Expect From Shogun Season 2
Despite Shogun Season 2 still being kept under a veil of secrecy at FX, fans have been given a few nuggets about the show's upcoming second batch of episodes.
The most significant of these came as part of this latest update on the project. Yes, it is exciting to hear that Season 2 will have a specific focus on surprises for fans (especially after the thrilling twists and turns of Season 1), but the showrunners' mention of Fumi Nikaido's Ochiba no Kata is something fans should keep earmarked.
According to the pair of creators, Nikaido's character is based on the real-life historical figure Yodo-Kun. Yodo-Kun (or Yodo-dono) was a concubine of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the mother of the heir to the Japanese leader's throne at the time.
Fans saw the seeds of this get laid in Season 1, as Ochiba no Kata bore the son of the late Taikō and served as one of the last dissenting voices against the Toranaga regime. With Toranaga now in power, Season 2 will likley see no Kata-san continue her push against Toranaga, using her place as the mother of Japan's rightful heir to try and accumulate power.
Perhaps Season 2 will adapt the events of the Siege of Osaka, a massive military operation largely orchestrated by Yodo-Kun. It has been said that Season 2 will take place roughly a decade after the events of Season 1. Seeing as Season 1 took place around 1600, the show's second season would line up almost perfectly with the Siege of Osaka in 1615.
