Where did you start with a project as huge and all-encompassing as this?
His name is Frederik Cryns, and he’s a teacher at the University of Kyoto in Japan.
All those different aspects allowed me to design the costumes for the show.
Image via Zanda Rice
But it was mostly the paintings that really helped me.
This was a very different project.
They also reveal which scenes were changed from the book and what Hiroyuki Sanada contributed as a producer.
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.
You talked about going to museums and looking in the archives.
Were there times when you had to go a little more old-school in recreating?
That was the intention.
it’s crucial that you cut the corners here and there.
How many total costumes were made for the show, including background extras?
ROSARIO:We made more than 2,300 costumesmade.
But yes, we made more than 2,300 costumes madethem.
A lot of people these days in shows say, We made.
No, yourentedpieces, and then you created the costumes.
Image via FX Networks
We actually made the pieces.
Then, on top of that, we played with certain rental pieces that we got out of Japan.
They impose on him wearing that first kosode that he wears, that dark burgundy kosode.
His evolution through the costumes was mostly aboutadding all these very classic Japanese pieces to his wardrobe.
So, for every single episode, it felt like we had to start from the beginning.
That was the complication of this project.
ROSARIO: You beautifully said it.
That defines exactly the evolution of her costumes.
To me,Mariko was the heart of the project.
There is no doubt about it.
I really wanted her costumes to not only reflect the authenticity of the period but also her emotional arc.
So her father had to commit seppuku, and his entire family also had to do the same thing.
He didn’t authorize that.
What I used to do that was bypainting camellias on her costumes.
He’s a bit more like a commander making a statement about his authority.
So yes, they were very light.
That actually comes from a piece that really inspired me from that period.
We did that as we were creating all the textiles for the show.
There is another one that I really love that nobody would know by watching the show.
What am I going to do?
I went to the workshop and it was empty.
I took them, cut them into fans, and applied them to the uchikake of Ochiba.
In a way, it shows her superiority over everybody else.
ROSARIO: No, actually.
With this show, we didn’t have much time to design.
[Laughs] I had less than five months I started really late.
There was no backup.
Was there any costume that was a bit more challenging in terms of figuring out a definitive look?
ROSARIO: The armors were complicated because that’s something that I’ve never done before.
As his storyline progresses, it’s true that his costumes become more militaristic.
To me, it really represented who Toranaga was.
There was a very wise man behind it, but very authoritarian and powerful.
It took three or four people three or four weeks to do by hand.
It was a complicated piece, for sure.
Shogunis available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
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