The Alliance

This is the second novel of the series which starts with ‘Isana’ (formerly published in English with the title of ‘Harpoon’. Isana, or ‘bold fish’ in Japanese is the ancient name for the most treasured maritime prey of all, the right whale)
In ‘Isana’ a young whaler from Taiji, a whaling village at the tip of the Kii peninsula, chances to meet with an American whaling boat off the coast of Japan, just after they had killed a sperm whale. This is in 1846, in the time of the Shogun’s rule, when all contact with foreigners, except those as proscribed by the government in Nagasaki, is strictly forbidden. However, by this time whaling ships from America, Britain and Russia are constantly marauding off Japan’s coast. American whaling is at its peak, with the industry back home lobbying for Congress to take action and force Japan to open its ports.
Meanwhile, Jinsuke, the young whaler, loses his arm to a shark, which prevents him from continuing in his father’s footsteps as a traditional harpooner. Instead, he is sent to Okinawa as a spy for the intelligence services of the Shogun’s chief advisor, Ii Naosuke. From there he travels to Shanghai, and then to North America, where he overcomes the loss of one arm and follows his dream to become a whaler and a sailor in the American way.
The coming of the American warships brings about rebellion in Japan, and the long rule of the Shogun is overthrown. Jinsuke, now with his western name of Jim Sky, becomes a respected ship’s captain and owner, and settles in Vancouver, Canada.
In the story of ‘The Alliance’ Jim Sky’s unruly, headstrong third son Saburo, after getting into a fight at his snobbish British-style boarding school in Victoria, is expelled and disgraced. His father decides to send the lad to Japan, to be trained in traditional disciplines. The boy then goes into the new naval college. After graduation his is sent to Glasgow, there to attend university and study marine engineering, meanwhile observing the building of modern warships. Saburo is recruited there into Japanese naval intelligence. This is the time when Japan building up a modern navy, with many of the warships being built in Britain. Britain and Japan sign a historical alliance, and the Royal Navy especially befriends the fledgeling Japanese navy.
Japan enters into a war with Russia, and at the Battle of Tsushima the new Imperial Japanese Navy totally defeats the Imperial Russian Baltic Fleet. Saburo is aboard the battleship Asahi, built in Newcastle.
Japan has become a powerful maritime nation, with many enemies, both open and covert…..