Will Adams, the real-life English sea-captain and adventurer, who made it to Japan in the sixteenth century, has a street named after him in Japan: Anjin-Cho.
Damien Thomas (Father Alvito) could not speak any Japanese before this movie. The whole crew were astonished with his Japanese-spoken scenes, that were nearly perfect.
The ship used to play the Erasmus was called "The Golden Hinde". It was hired in London, and it sailed to Yokohama via San Francisco. This is the same ship used for the Black Ship, so it had to be modified to look different.
As of 2018, the two hour and five minute theatrical version of the ten hour mini-series has never been released on DVD.
This Shogun (1980) movie is a theatrical version of Shogun (1980), and was released outside of the U.S. as a two hour and five minute movie.