A Dutch military-trading ship turned out to be the only survivor among the five ships that two years earlier had sailed from Europe to Asia via the Strait of Magellan. During a storm it suffers disaster off the coast of Japan. The surviving crew, led by an English captain, ends up in a country where they are strangers and unwelcome guests.
Only Captain John Blackthorne managed to adapt to life in this strange state with unfamiliar human customs and values. In a world almost completely closed to foreigners, life continues full of intrigue and military preparations, connected with the fact that Japan currently has no supreme ruler — the shogun.