Shōgun (Season 1)

Shōgun (1980) is the landmark American-Japanese historical miniseries you can watch online on iFILM — adapted from James Clavell's novel and filmed on location in Japan. Richard Chamberlain plays John Blackthorne, an English navigator whose ship founders off the Japanese coast in the sixteenth century. He survives. That turns out to be the easy part.

Toshiro Mifune plays Lord Toranaga, a warlord who spots a possible use for this strange foreigner and takes him in — not out of kindness. Blackthorne has to learn a world where a wrong bow can end in death and political loyalty shifts faster than the tide. The series doesn't soften feudal Japan for Western eyes, and that's what makes it hold up. The production took home five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for Outstanding Limited Series. Stream Shōgun (1980) online on iFILM.