‘Shogun’ Star Takehiro Hira Teases Season 2: ‘My Days Are Numbered’
“Shogun” star Takehiro Hira says he has only seen one script for Season 2. Yet he thinks he knows the fate of his character, Ishido Kazunari.
“I can’t really talk about that, but you know, the older characters in ‘Shogun’ loosely follow the actual historical figures. So my husband doesn’t really survive much after the big war, the battle. So my days are numbered,” Hira told me Wednesday night at the premiere of his new Searchlight Pictures drama “Rental Family” at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.
“I’ll probably get an honorable death,” he said, before teasing, “But I might come back if….”
Hira was nominated for an Emmy last year for his work on the show in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Almost at the same time as the ‘Rental Family’ premiere carpet premiere, FX announced that production on Season 2 will begin in January. New additions to the cast include Asami Mizukawa as Aya, Masataka Kubota as Hyūga, Sho Kaneta as Hidenobu, Takaaki Enoki as Lord Ito and Jun Kunimura as Gōda.
Returning stars include returning stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Cosmo Jarvis, as well as Fumi Nikaidô, Shinnosuke Abe, Hiroto Kanai, Yoriko Dôguchi, Tommy Bastow, Yuko Miyamoto, Eita Okuno and Yuka Kouri.
Season 1 directors Hiromi Kamata (Season 1, Episode 6 “Ladies of the Willow World”) and Takeshi Fukunaga (Season 1, Episode 7, “A Stick of Time”) return as directors for the second season. Anthony Byrne, Kate Herron and series co-creator Justin Marks will also direct episodes in Season 2.
According to an official logline, ‘Shogun’ season 2 takes place ten years after the events of the first season.
Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Gorman, Brendan Fraser, Akira Emoto and Takehiro Hira at the Los Angeles Premiere of “Rental Family” at DGA Theater on November 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by River Callaway/Variety)
In “Rental Family,” Brendan Frazer plays a Japan-based actor who finds a job at a family rental company – headed by Hira’s character – and is assigned to play various substitute roles for clients. Hikari directed from a script she wrote together with Stephen Blahut. The cast is completed by Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Akira Emoto.
‘Rental Family’ can be seen in cinemas from November 21.
