James Clavell · 1993 · thriller

James Clavell's 1993 Asian Saga novel. In 1862, Satsuma samurai cut down a party of foreigners on the Tokaido road, and the young Malcolm Struan - heir to the Noble House - is left broken. From the Foreign Settlement at Yokohama to the shogun's Edo and the guns of Kagoshima, a clash of empires and a doomed love play out as feudal Japan is forced open.

1. 1
   Namamugi

   On the Tokaido highway at Namamugi, a small party of foreigners fails to give way to a Satsuma lord's procession. Samurai swords come out: the trader Canterbury is killed and young Malcolm Struan is left grievously wounded.

2. 2
   Yokohama

   In the Foreign Settlement at Yokohama, the gai-jin traders bay for reprisal while Malcolm, heir to the Noble House, lies broken in his bed - falling helplessly in love with the penniless French girl Angelique Richaud.

3. 3
   Kanagawa

   At the legation in Kanagawa, Dr Babcott labours to save Malcolm's life, and the diplomats begin the dangerous game of demanding reparation from a Bakufu that neither wants the foreigners nor dares expel them.

4. 4
   Edo

   In Edo, seat of the young shogun, the Council of Elders and the subtle Lord Yoshi manoeuvre against each other and against the xenophobic shishi - each faction certain that the fate of Japan hangs on how the gai-jin are handled.

5. 5
   Kagoshima

   When reparation is refused, the British fleet sails south and bombards Kagoshima, capital of Satsuma - a shattering demonstration that convinces Japan she must modernise or be devoured, and sets the empire on its new course.