Shōgun Director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. Reveals What It Was Like to Film that Seppuku Scene in Episode 8’s “The Abyss of Life”

Awards Daily talks to director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. about directing Shōgun Episode 8’s “The Abyss of Life” and why he aimed for “honesty and vulnerability” in its seppuku scene.

Shōgun Episode 8’s “The Abyss of Life” marks a turning point for the series. As Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) mourns the loss of this son and threats from Ishido (Takehiro Hira) loom, he pauses to move his chess pieces into place, including the forced seppuku of his general (Tokuma Nishioka) and urging Mariko (Anna Sawai) to “do her part.”

With so many moving elements in this episode, director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. talked to me about how he used “subtext grids” to keep track of all the characters. We also talked about how his experience in Japan and with Japanese culture helped elicit such powerful performances.

Awards Daily: What’s it like seeing the reception for the show? People are so psyched that there will be more seasons (me included!). 
Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.: The response has been quite moving to be honest. The show is so specific to Japanese culture and very little of the show is in English, so for it to be doing so well in the States is incredible. It was a brave swing for FX that ended up being totally worth it. As a fan myself, I’m excited to see where things go from here.

AD: Shōgun is about outsiders in many ways. You have your own unique narrative as a Black American who lived in Japan for many years. Did that help with your understanding of the story and direction?

EOK: Yeah, it did. I lived and worked in Japan for 6 years and still speak Japanese at an advanced level. Part of the reason I moved there was because I am a huge fan of Japanese cinema. I moved there to better understand the culture that produced my favorite films.    

When I lived there, I very quickly learned the importance of “belonging” in that culture. Whether it be at work or in your social life, there’s a deep desire to fit in and be accepted by others. It permeates daily life there, and it’s the reason so many of my favorite Japanese films are about identity.  

I feel like my understanding of the culture was indispensable on a show like Shōgun. Japanese culture is rooted in samurai culture; the values of fitting in, learning how to read the room, the need to read in between the lines and be sensitive to what is said and NOT said, the understanding of hierarchy and respecting that hierarchy through the way you speak, where you sit, etc., all stemmed from this side of Japanese history.

AD: How did knowing and speaking Japanese help with your direction? 

EOK: Speaking Japanese allowed me to give direction to the actors without a translator, though our translator was incredible, and I relied on her for very specific phrasing and word choice that would elicit a performance. It also allowed me to make nuanced adjustments to the delivery of a line since I could understand every word being said. 

However, I think it was truly the cultural understanding that was most helpful for me as a director. Understanding the Japanese need to fit in, the need to read in between the lines, all of that. Much of my episode, in particular, required audiences to experience that. I wanted audiences to lean in as they themselves were struggling to understand the ailing, grieving Toranaga’s true intentions. Is this a ruse or has he truly given up? 

AD: The tea scene between Buntaro and Mariko is an important scene for this couple. How did you infuse emotion into what’s typically an emotionless practice?

EOK: That’s a great question, and it was a challenge I had early on in prep. The showrunner, Justin Marks, made it clear early on that this scene wasn’t about tea. It wasn’t a documentary on the tea ceremony. It was about something more. We needed to FEEL something in this scene. So, I decided to make it all about Buntaro taking one last chance at wooing his wife. Every single thing in the tea room space was chosen to elicit a response from her. That’s why we have Mariko reacting and processing so much as she looks around that room.   

Part of the reason we used the tight, detailed shots of the tea-making process was to put us in Mariko’s POV. Justin wanted it to feel like Chef’s Table a bit, and the effect of that choice is that we “see” the scene the way Mariko does and get a clear sense of how much effort Buntaro was putting into this one cup of tea for Mariko. For the first time in a long time, Mariko is witnessing the thoughtfulness and humility of her husband.  

By making these choices, I hoped to make it feel like they might make up with each other. That for a moment, we think they might just actually renew their vows—which, unfortunately, doesn’t happen in the end. 

AD: Speaking of subtext, tell me about the subtext grids you created for story beats, characters, and shots. 

EOK: Thanks for asking about that. The subtext grid that you mention was essential for this episode. In this episode, Toranaga uses his “grief” over his son’s death to galvanize very particular responses from each member of his clan. The episode felt a bit like House of Cards because of the manipulation from Toranaga that was happening from scene to scene. So, I used that grid to distill—in one sentence per scene—what was really going on under the surface for each character. There were about 7 characters (Toranaga, Mariko, Blackthorne, Hiromatsu, Yabushiga, Buntaro, and Omi) whose arcs all needed to add up for the effects of that climatic seppuku scene to really truly land. In television, you often shoot out of order, so having that grid on hand helped remind me of where each actor needed to get to by the end of a scene. If we didn’t land those individual arcs, I don’t think the seppuku scene would have had the impact that it did.

AD: “The Abyss of Life” is a great episode, and I think one of the most memorable and devastating moments is Hiromatsu’s seppuku. What was it like shooting that scene?

EOK: We rehearsed this scene twice before the day of shooting. Those rehearsals helped me rethink where to best place the actors in relation to Toranaga, as well as where to eventually place the cameras. They also helped me decide the pacing, as it was in those rehearsals that I really leaned into slowing things down and allowing the silence to have weight. I pushed for honesty and truthfulness from take to take. For example, I decided to add rain to set the tone and a sense of foreboding to the atmosphere. Weather and the elements seemed to be a character in this series, so it just felt right here. 

I think this scene is powerful because the script was already exceptional. The actors were locked in and Sanada-san (Toranaga) and Nishoka-san (Hiromatsu) spoke often about their intentions for this scene throughout prep and production. They really were committed to getting this scene right. The special effects and makeup team also did an exceptional job bringing the seppuku act to life in a grounded but raw and graphic way. 

On my end, I wanted to make sure the camera wasn’t a distraction. I leaned into quiet tension and only moved the camera when necessary. The decision not to move the camera much was an ode to films like HARAKIRI by Kobayashi. That film really captures the quiet tension that I was setting up the entire episode. Every angle and change in shot size is heavier and weighted. And when the camera actually does move, it means something.  

Before every take, I reminded the actors of where they were in their journeys and how this moment was affecting them. I pushed for honesty and vulnerability from take to take. And Aika [Miyake], my editor, did a phenomenal job finding the pace, milking the tension, and bringing this all together. The scene really does come together in the edit, so I have to thank her for her devotion in getting this right.

Shōgun is streaming on Hulu.