Damien Thomas (Father Alvito) and John Rhys-Davies (Pilot Rodrigues) were also in the mini-series Noble House, another James Clavell adaptation. Rhys-Davies plays Quillian Gornt, owner of a company in Hong Kong whose ship names always use "Pilot." Clavell's historical novels often interwove the same families, centuries apart.
Leon Lissek was also in Noble House.
The Japanese title of Shogun derived from the Japanese "Sei-i Taishogun" meaning "Great General (Commander-in-Chief) of the Expeditionary Force against Barbarians." The title was for military dictators of feudal Japan ruling from 1185 to 1868. Shogun were appointed by the Emperor, and although the Emperor was a nominal leader, it was the Shogun who was the de facto ruler of Japan. Ieyasu Tokugawa (the historical basis for the fictional Lord Yoshi Toranaga) established the last hereditary shogunate that lasted until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
The character of Lord Yoshi Toranaga is based on the historical Lord Iesu Tokugawa, the would-be shogun of feudal Japan. He established the final shogunate that was hereditary until the office was abolished by the Meiji Restoration in 1868. In the novel, as his real-life counterpart, he was the head of the Council of Five Regents appointed by a character named Taiko (whose real-life counterpart was his predecessor Totoyomi Hideyoshi) and was charged with looking after his son and heir Yaemon (modeled on real-life Totoyomi Hideyori). Tokugawa Hidetada, who was the third son of Ieyasu and shogun, would go to war with Hideyori in Osaka, which led to the latter's death in 1615.