On April 21, 1701, Yazama Jiutaro, a young Japanese samurai is devastated when he and his fellow warriors are informed of the ritual suicide of their master in punishment for a severe offence. The warriors are now ronin-masterless and on the run-but they vow vengeance on the court official whom they blame, promising to return in force at the New Year, December 31, 1702. They know that their revenge, no matter how justified, will only lead to their own deaths by the same ritual suicide. The band separates and scatters and Jiutaro heads south. As he crosses the sea from the main island of Honshu to that of Kyushu, his boat is hit by a tempest. When the storm abates, he finds himself in a world populated by races and species of peoples familiar, strange, and terrifying. Believing himself to be in one of the hells he has heard of in myths, theater, and stories, he knows he has to find a way back to the home he is far away from.