First Japanese actor to win Best Actor in a Drama Series

Hiroyuki Sanada won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2024 Emmy Awards, becoming the first Japanese actor and only the second Asian actor in Emmy history to ever win in the category.

“I am more than honored to be here with such great nominees,” said Sanada as he accepted the award presented to him by Steven Yeun. “Thank you to FX, Disney and Hulu for believing in me. Thank you to my team for always supporting me, and thank you to all the cast and crew of Shogun. I am so proud of you. It was a dream project, where East meets West, with respect. Shogun showed me that when people work together, we can achieve miracles. Together, we can create a better future.”

Sanada won the award for Best Actor for his role as Yoshii Toranaga in Shogunmaking the FX series the most awarded show of a single season after winning 14 awards at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend. Co-star Anna Sawai, who plays Toda Mariko, also won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The series received a total of 25 Emmy nominations.

Sanada's win at this year's show follows Lee Jung-jae becoming the first Asian actor to win the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 for his performance in the Netflix series. Squid GameWith this victory, he also became the first person to receive an acting award from the TV Academy for a performance not written in English.