He stood on the prow of the Hosiander, the Dutch trading ship that had provided him passage back from the Japans. Before him, in all its glory and majesty, lay the great city of London. An awe-inspiring vista of peaked roofs, church spires and palace towers. Beneath them, a sprawling mass of houses, inns, markets and shops stretched almost as far as the eye could see – further than Jack could ever recall. And from its centre, rising like a great monolith to dominate the skyline, stood the immense Gothic tower of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Yet it was London Bridge that truly took his breath away. He’d forgotten just how magnificent and impressive it was. Built upon huge starlings – low pillars of boat-shaped stone – the twenty arches spanned the mighty River Thames from the Great Stone Gate on the southern bank to the New Stone Gate on the north. Eight hundred feet long, sixty feet high and almost thirty feet wide, the bridge towered over the waterway. And along its length, like frosting on top of a cake, was a tier of spectacular buildings, shops and fancy residences, some as many as six or seven storeys high.

The bridge was far more than just a bridge: it was a symbol of London’s strength and power.

Jack turned to Akiko and Yori, who stood beside him on the deck. ‘So what do you think?’ he asked in English.

His two friends gazed around them, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, speechless at the sight. Jack was pleased at their reaction. After so many years of him talking about England and all its splendour, they were finally getting to see it with their own eyes. During his imposed stay in Japan, he’d been introduced by Akiko to the many glittering jewels of her country: from its ancient Buddhist temples and golden palaces to its paradisal gardens and snow-capped mountains, and from the cherry blossoms in spring to the maple leaves in autumn. Now his country would have its turn.

The Hosiander changed tack as she eased through the river traffic into port. She was greeted by a cacophony of boats creaking, sailors heckling one another and seagulls shrieking overhead. The waterway was bustling with hundreds of ferries, boats, trading ships and galleons. It seemed everyone was seeking to make their fortune in the burgeoning city and simply finding a place to dock was a challenge. The north bank bristled with quays and wharves, but each harboured such a flotilla of vessels that the riverside was transformed into a thick forest of masts and sails.

‘Look at all the swans!’ Akiko remarked, gazing in astonishment at the flocks of regal white birds dotting the water like snowflakes.