Set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war, Lord
Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents
unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby
fishing village.
Its English pilot, John Blackthorne, comes bearing secrets that could help
Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of
Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants.
Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator,
Toda Mariko, a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line.
While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must
reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the
faith that saved her and her duty to her late father