While offering tea to the monk Takuan Soho, Iemitsu (1604–51, the third Tokugawa shogun) had his servants fire a gun out in the garden. It was a loud bang, but Takuan did not bat an eyelid.

Yagyu Jubei, the finest swordsman in the land, is called upon to bare his blade to help Iemitsu keep his post. Meanwhile a fishmonger named Isshin Tasuke who bears an amazing resemblance to Shogun ...