In the early 17th century, only the Portuguese, with their far-sailing explorers, knew about lands in the far East. As they began trading with the Japanese and converting them to Christianity, they kept the secret from other European countries. But it wasn’t long before other explorers became curious and set off to see what they could find.

FX’s limited series Shōgun recreates the story of James Clavell’s best-selling 1975 novel, which NBC originally aired as a mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain in 1980.

Creative agency Elastic produced the main titles, above, which tease the story of the arrival of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), also known as the Amjin, or pilot, and his immersion into Japanese feudal life. As the titles go on, they foreshadow the coming skirmishes and civil war between the clans, as the ships skim over the sands of a Japanese garden as if they were sailing across the ocean. The titles’ urgent score is composed by Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross and Nick Chuba.

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Besides Jarvis, the series also stars producer Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, a lord who is trying to stay alive while outmaneuvering his enemies. It also stars Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, who is in service to Toranaga and becomes translator and companion to Blackthorne.

Shōgun is created for television by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, with Marks serving as showrunner and executive producer alongside Michaela Clavell, Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca and Kondo. The series is produced by FX Productions.

The first two episodes of the new version premiered on FX and Hulu on Tuesday, February 27, with the rest of the series’ eight episodes releasing weekly.

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