I fell into this story and didn't come up for air till I'd finished all 1200 or so pages. With English ship pilot John Blackthorne, the reader is wrecked and blown ashore in 1600 or so Japan, where several horrific experiences convince him that he's landed among savages, possibly lunatic savages -- barbarians! He lives through the contact, and along with him the reader begins gradually puzzling out Japanese culture, language, food etc as a matter of survival.

Here's my best example of why I love the book. Maybe 600 pages later or so, after assimilating to this new culture, Blackthorne is taken to visit his old crewmates who instead of assimilating, have been quarantined in a location where they can approximate their European cultural habits (it turns out that they've been living with the outcasts who handle bodies). And through Blackthorne's new Japanese sensibilities (and to the reader's), the Europeans are indisputably, well ... barbarians. Without even noticing, the reader has done a 180-turn along with Blackthorne and entered a new culture.

It's a complex saga, and parts of it are slow -- for instance, the g...r..a..d..u..a..l development of a romance between Blackthorne and the lovely interpreter he's assigned (it makes Rhett and Scarlet look like they rushed into things). And evidently it's got glaring historical inaccuracies so don't depend on it for cultural anthropology. But wow! what a story.

Putting these old favorites into Goodreads so my "recommendations" can home in on my profile has reminded me and made me resolve to re-read it. Makes me smile to anticipate it.