The events of the film take place in April-September 1600. The Dutch ship \"Erasmus\", captained by the English navigator John Blackthorne, is shipwrecked off the coast of feudal Japan. Blackthorne wakes up in a typical Japanese room, and the local population treats him very friendly. In the village of Anjiro, where he finds himself, he meets a Jesuit priest whom he considers an enemy, as the Catholic Jesuit Order considers Protestant England (the captain\'s homeland) and the Netherlands (under whose flag his ship sails) heretics and enemies of the Catholic Church. He accuses Blackthorne and his crew of piracy, and the head of the local samurais, Omi-san, puts them in a pit until the arrival of the local daimyo, who will decide their fate. The daimyo, Prince Yabu, decides that one of the crew members must be executed. Blackthorne tries to resist the displayed barbarism, but is forced to give in to force and watch his unfortunate comrade die in agony, being boiled alive in a huge cauldron; later, Blackthorne himself is humiliated by Omi-san. After that, he is required to proceed to Osaka, where an influential prince, Toranaga, wishes to meet him...