ANNA SAWAI CONTAINS MULTITUDES──SHE IS REDEFINING THE STEREOTYPE OF A JAPANESE WOMAN

How to describe Anna Sawai? The actress radiates a unique aura: strong and stoic, but with an undeniable warmth. Cast as the lead of musical Annie at age 11, she made her Hollywood debut in Ninja Assassin in 2009. Her teens were spent in an idol group based in Japan, but she moved to the US in her twenties seeking more freedom. After a breakout role in Pachinko, the 2022 series based on the novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, Sawai was selected for the role of Lady Mariko Toda in the hugely successful drama series Shogun. In 2024 she made history as the first Asian actress to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Though the show is set some 400 years in the past, Sawai’s portrayal of Lady Mariko ripples through to the present. Dismantling tired tropes of Asian femininity as passive, Sawai’s work reveals a fully realized expression of womanhood in Japan.

No actor has had a more whirlwind year than Anna Sawai. When the FX drama series Shogun premiered in February 2024, Sawai’s star rose fast and bright. Playing Mariko Toda, a woman navigating the chaos at the close of Japan’s turbulent Sengoku period, she has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about names in Hollywood.

In early April, as the sakura trees were in full bloom and had just begun to blow confetti around the streets of Tokyo, Sawai came to visit the Vogue Japan office. Dressed casually in jeans and a white T-shirt, she flashed the same disarming smile that she deploys on screen.

Though the actor may seem the picture of self-assurance, getting to that place has taken time. “Before Shogun came out, there was a period when I lost my confidence,” she says. “I felt like I had to relearn how to act, and I started working with an acting coach and training again. But once the show aired and I saw how positive the public’s reaction was, I realized that what I felt and expressed in this project was right after all.”

Her breakout has also given Sawai something she hasn’t known before as an actor: the ability to choose. “Until now, I just auditioned and took whatever came my way,” she says. “But now I’m being more selective. I want to take on roles that have meaning, and I feel a stronger sense of responsibility—to myself and my work.”

Sawai grew up in New Zealand before moving to Japan when she was 10. Now based in the U.S., the actor relocated to America alone in her twenties. “I wanted to go somewhere that I could express myself more openly,” she says. Even so, she feels her roots will always be in Japan. “Maybe it’s that ingrained sense of consideration,” she reflects. “When I’m abroad, I catch myself worrying too much about what others think. You’re expected to speak your mind overseas, but I sometimes pause and wonder ‘Is it really okay to say this?’,” she says. And then there’s the food. “I’ll always prefer rice,” she laughs. “Being Japanese is at the foundation of who I am and it’s where I feel most at home. I love being abroad, but after a while I just want to come back!”

While Shogun captured the brutal power struggles between feudal warlords, it also stood out for its nuanced portrayal of women navigating a ruthless era. One particularly memorable scene shows Lady Mariko and Usami Fuji—known as Fuji-sama, played with quiet intensity by Moeka Hoshi—sharing a rare moment of inhibition. Free from the presence of men, they vent their frustrations and devour food together at a dinner table. The moment, raw and human, struck a chord—showcasing both solidarity and emotional release.

“I really fought for that scene,” Sawai says. “When I started eating with that much intensity, the on-set expert for historical accuracy said “Women didn’t eat like that back then”. But that was the point—it was about showing emotions they’d never display in public. The women in this story don’t speak openly, but they understand each other deeply. Just one glance says everything. I wanted to show that kind of relationship.”

Sawai has also found a sense of sisterhood off screen. At the Golden Globes, Sawai was nominated alongside Kathy Bates, and ended up winning. It sparked a sense of camaraderie between the two, and Bates sent Sawai flowers to congratulate her. “Then at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Kathy won, so I sent her flowers back. She’s such a legend. When we took photos together, she pushed me to the front and said, ‘Now it’s your time.’,” says Sawai. “I wrote her a note with the flowers that said, ‘It’s still your time.’ There’s sometimes this tendency for women to see each other as rivals, but she was so kind and supportive and that meant a lot to me.”

As her standing in Hollywood has risen, the fashion world has taken notice. Sawai was named a global ambassador for Cartier last year, and then for Dior this February. For her, the French maison felt like a natural fit. “When I thought about which brand I wanted to represent, I didn’t want to stress about my height, which is a bit of a complex for me,” she says. (Sawai is 155cm tall). “Dior has [worked with] women like Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega, who are around my height, so I felt like I’d be okay. And I think the brand’s classic image really suits me.” At this year’s Met Gala, she broke her tradition of wearing dresses and turned heads in a white blazer and trousers from Dior, topped with a wide-brimmed hat by Stephen Jones.

Even dressed in designer gowns and standing alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, Sawai says the moments of anticipation before an awards announcement still stir the same nerves she felt when waiting to hear back from a casting call. “It feels just like when I auditioned for the musical Annie as a kid, and that nervous wait: will they call my name or not?” she says. “My mom was at the Emmys, sitting just behind me, the same way she stood behind me during that Annie audition. Afterwards, a friend who’d been in Annie with me messaged to say, ‘Your mom had exactly the same look at the awards show as she did back then!’”

As the awards keep coming, where does she keep them all? “Actually, they’re still in the box, tucked away in the corner of my room,” she laughs. “I don’t have a proper place to display them yet. When I move somewhere a bit bigger, I’ll have to buy a real trophy shelf.”

Though Sawai has achieved a dizzying level of recognition, the actress is conscious of staying grounded—and modest. “If the peak of a career is a 10, I’m still at maybe a 2. I’ve only just begun,” she says. “I want to keep acting for the next 50 years. There are so many stories I want to tell, roles I want to try and parts of myself I haven’t tapped into yet. So yeah, I’d say a 2.” She flashes her grin and starts laughing again. “Or maybe a 2.3?”

Talent: Anna Sawai Photography: Nick Yang Styling: Rena Semba Hair: Asashi at Ota Office Makeup: Yuka Washizu at Beauty Direction Shot on location at Kait Plaza, Kanagawa Institute of Technology Special thanks to Oolong Zhang Cooperation: Sparking Art Studio Location Coordination (Tokyo Street): Dharmastar and Toku Production: HK Productions Editors: Gen Arai and Yui Sugiyama Intervie and Text: Gen Arai Adaptation Editor: Ashley Ogawa Clarke

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