Dainichi means the Highest Buddha. With this name, Francisco Javier, was the first western monk to set foot in Japan in the middle of 16th century. This novel recreates the epic adventure of the Spanish Jesuit who spent more than two years trying to christianize the people of the refined profile of a country so completely different from the European culture. His arrival to the islands aboard a Chinese pirate ship, the first contact and the overwhelming culture crash, the difficult relationship with the powerful daimio and the buddhist bonzos and the shintoists, his efforts to translate and spread the Christian message, the trip around southern Japan to meet with the emperor, his achievements, his doubts and his failures...

This is an entertaining book which remains true to historical facts and presents the human side of a hardened veteran and one of the greatest and little-known Spanish adventurers.