Tamra, the Island

William J. Spencer (Pierre Deporte) is a young British aristocrat in the year 1640 with a fascination for East Asian art, languages, and culture. He counts as his closest friend the young somewhat mercenary Japanese merchantman Yan. William is swindled by a shady merchant into believing that a plain porcelain chamber pot is a mystical artifact; he then sails off to Nagasaki in order to open the "aquatic silk road" between Japan and England, but mostly to escape his creepy and overbearing mother and an arranged marriage. Yan is promised a handsome reward if he can drag her son back in time for the wedding and hightails it after his "friend."[cont.] [About] Tamra, the Island is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Seo Woo, Im Joo-hwan and Pierre Deporte. It aired on MBC from August 8 to September 27, 2009 on Saturdays and Sundays at 19:55 for 20 episodes. It is a historical drama set in the 17th century during the European colonial expansion into the Far East. Themes of racial tension and xenophobia, social inequality, and rumination on the effect of foreign policy and international trade on the quotidien are prevalent throughout the series; however, the romantic comedy aspect remains at the forefront for the majority of the narrative. [Source: Wikipedia]