‘Ohayō gozaimasu, Akiko,’ echoed Jack, wishing her a good morning.

She seemed pleased at his response and they set off down the dirt track towards the harbour.

At the jetty, they climbed into the boat of Akiko’s pearl fisherman, who rowed them across to the island in the middle of the harbour. As they drew closer, Jack was astonished to see a huge crowd had gathered along a wide stretch of the beach in front of the red wooden gateway.

‘Ise Jingu Torii,’ Akiko said, pointing at the structure.

Jack nodded his understanding. The torii was the colour of evening fire and the height of a double-storey house. It was constructed from two upright pillars cut across by two large horizontal beams, the uppermost of which had a narrow roof of jade-green tiles.

Their small craft landed on the southern tip of the island and they joined the thronging mass of villagers, women in brightly coloured kimonos and sword-bearing samurai. The crowd had formed an ordered semi-circle, but the villagers all bowed and gave way as Akiko and her entourage moved towards the front, joining a large group of samurai.

The warriors immediately acknowledged Akiko’s arrival with a low bow. Returning their greeting, Akiko then began to converse with a young samurai boy, who appeared to be of Jack’s age, with chestnut-brown eyes and black spiky hair. The boy threw Jack a disdainful look, before ignoring him completely.

The villagers, however, were astonished by Jack’s presence. They gave him a wide berth, whispering to one another behind their hands, but Jack didn’t mind since this allowed him a clear view of the makeshift arena.

A lone samurai stood, like an ancient god, under the torii.

The warrior was dressed in a black-and-gold kimono decorated on the chest, sleeves and back with a circular symbol of four crossed bolts of lightning. His hairstyle was fashioned in the traditional samurai manner with a topknot of black hair pulled forward over a shaved pate. This samurai, though, had tied a thick band of white cloth round his head. Stocky and powerful, with menacing eyes, the samurai warrior reminded Jack of a large bulldog, bred for fighting.

In his hands, the warrior held the largest sword Jack had ever seen. The blade itself stretched over four feet in length, and together with the hilt was as long as Jack was tall. The warrior, his eyes fixed on the distant shoreline of the harbour, shifted impatiently and his sword caught the bright sunlight. For a brief moment it flashed like a bolt of lightning. Seeing the amazement in Jack’s eyes, Akiko whispered its name: ‘Nodachi.’