'1543. Japan. A strange realm of wealth and warriors, it was said, perched on the fiery, grumbling edge of the world.
'Tomodachi is Japanese for "friend'"and that's just what young Daniel Marlowe is going to need, shipwrecked and separated from his father in a Japan torn by civil war.
'But Kenji also has a problem that only a trusted friend could help with.
'He has fled an obligation with a deadly stain on his samurai honour, and must reach his far-off castle home. In his path lie brigands, warlords and their feuding armies. And worse. Temptations and lessons, on the hard road to wisdom.
'So begins an unlikely friendship, a dangerous journey, and a series of gripping adventures across a beautiful land haunted by the shadow of the sword.' (From the publisher's website.)