Winner of the 1980 Noma Literary Prize - a darkly absorbing portrayal of the first ever Japanese voyage to cross the Pacific Ocean by the author of Silence In 17th-century Japan, a diplomatic mission sets sail for the West. Among those facing the combined perils of the sea and foreign courts are ambitious Spanish missionary Pedro Velasco, and Hasekura Rokuemon, a disregarded samurai determined to recover his family's standing. They travel to Mexico City, Rome and back - but Japan's new rulers are persecuting Christians, and if the men survive the journey, they may not survive their homecoming. This true story of courage and endurance is told with Endo's signature power and simplicity.

"'Serious, theologically-charged fiction of the highest quality: full, bleak, richly particular'" - Kirkus Reviews

"'Powerful... beautifully written... a fascinating narrative with its double perspective from East to West'" - New Statesman

"'Endo is really like no one else... as that rarity, a Japanese Catholic, he has found a border territory - of cultural and psychological clash - which is all his own'" - The Observer

"'A wry and sometimes bitter meditation on the nature of cultural values... Sensational events or powerful images are pictured rather than expressed, so that they come to resemble Japanese Haiku. It is because of Endo's restraint that The Samurai is in the end so convincing'" - Sunday Times

"'Genius... makes the imagination take wing'" - Mail on Sunday