Marks then passed the microphone to Hiroyuki Sanada, the lead actor of the show, who expressed his gratitude to all the crew, directors, and masters for their support of the samurai period dramas.

Sanada also won Best Actor in a Drama Series for his role as a political player in lordly Japan. While accepting his individual prize earlier in the night, the actor, with all due respect, remarked that the show was an “East meets West dream project.” Of the production, Sanada said it facilitated the union of American and Japanese filmmakers to tell the story of the first English contact with Japan in the year 1600. “And Shōgun taught me that when people work together, we can make miracles. We can create a better future together.”

While the drama entered the Primetime Emmys with a massive 25 nominations, it also took home 14 golden girl statuettes at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend.

The series, for those who may not know, chronicles the lives of two men from different worlds — John Blackthorne, aka Anjin-san (Cosmo Jarvis), an English sailor who finds himself stranded in the East Asian country, and Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Sanada), a samurai warlord navigating elaborate power conflicts.