It is 1862 and Japan is a land in chaos as the power of the Shugun wanes and the rival factions plan to restore the Emperor. In Yokohama, the gai-jin, the hated foreigners, seek to profit from the chaos. At the head of the Noble House, and heir to the title of Tai-Pan, stands Malcolm Struan who is determined to become his own man and marry the woman he loves. At the head of the Shogunate party is the Lord Yoshi, a direct descendant of Shogun Toranaga.