The first part of Nikolai Zadornov’s historical trilogy, the novel “Tsunami,” is devoted to Admiral Putyatin’s expedition to Japan (1854) to establish trade and diplomatic relations. In the East, the interests of America, Great Britain, and Russia collide. After a devastating tsunami, Russian sailors receive shelter on the Japanese shore. In the second novel of the trilogy—“Shimoda”—the Putyatin men begin constructing a new ship and draw closer to the local population, discovering the mysterious Japan that for several centuries had remained sealed to foreigners.