Was 11 years old when this was on TV. "Oh you should watch this it's so good," my parents said. So I didn't watch it, of course. Then on Friday night I went in to the bedroom and turned on the set and surfed through the channels to see what was on. Came upon the last episode of Shogun and was transfixed. Yoko Shimada, so beautiful as the character Mariko, captured my young heart, and I was forever in love with Japan. Started reading the book the next day, read EVERYTHING I could get my hands on about Japan, went to Japan as an exchange student, and am now married to a Japanese girl. This is a wonderful story, and Yoko Shimada was the best choice for the part, looking so natural in Kimono. No woman ever showed more grace, except maybe Audrey Hepburn...