What language is Cosmo Jarvis speaking in ‘Shōgun’?

TV series Shōgun depicts Japan in the year 1600, but why do the characters say that Cosmo Jarvis’ English character John Blackthorne is speaking Portuguese? Read on to find out.

Some have labelled the series as the “new Game of Thrones”. In it, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby village, where the character of John Blackthorne (Jarvis) is introduced. 

The historical drama is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, which had previously been adapted into a 1980 American miniseries. This version has been overseen by the husband-and-wife creative team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the latter of whom was a co-writer of Top Gun: Maverick. 

With dozens of reviews in, the show currently sits on a lofty 99 per cent critics rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 

Indiewire’s review compares the show to Game of Thrones, even stating that it succeeds in areas that the HBO show did not. In an A- review, they wrote: “Shōgun’s overt brutality paired with its cunning betrayals calls to mind Game of Thrones, but there’s also an elegance and earnestness to the production that draws a clear line in the sand between the two blockbuster epics.” 

The series will run for a total of 10 episodes, available to be streamed via Hulu and FX in the United States. UK viewers, meanwhile, can watch the show via Disney+.  

The first two episodes premiered on February 27, with episode five premiering on March 19. The season will climax with the final episode on April 23. 

What language is Cosmo Jarvis speaking in Shōgun? 

When Jarvis’ John Blackthorne character first appears in the show, it is clear that he is English. However, in the dialogue, his language is frequently referred to as Portuguese. 

This is for historically sound reasons. In late 16th/early 17th century Japan, Portugal played a major diplomatic and political role in the region, mediating trade between Japan and Europe, as well as broaching the fraught Japan-China relationship at the time. 

Blackthorne, an English Protestant, became the first non-Portuguese European to establish a relationship with the Japanese. He speaks to the characters in Portuguese, therefore, as it is the only language they shared. 

Portuguese was one of the major world languages at the time due to the country’s military maritime success, and nobody in Japan would have spoken English. 

As an American production, the decision was made to have Jarvis’ character speak in English to aid viewers, but in the universe of the show, he is speaking Portuguese. 

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