The novel “Simoda” tells of the heroic Russian sailors of Admiral Putyatin, who, after an unprecedented catastrophe and the sinking of their ship, found themselves in a closed Japan that did not allow foreigners in (1854). Admiral Putyatin’s embassy concluded a treaty of friendship and trade between the two states. Many obstacles that feudal lords put in the way of the development of Russo-Japanese relations were overcome.
Russian sailors build a new ship. In Japan, there is an unprecedented closening between the working people—carpenters, peasants—with the working people of Russia. Many thrilling and romantic meetings took place in those years in the Japanese village of Heda, where a museum of the memory of the Soviet–Japanese friendship dedicated to Admiral Putyatin and the Russian sailors has now been created.
The action of the novel takes place in 1855 during the Crimean War.