The story of one Japanese American family's century-long struggle to adjust, endure, and ultimately triumph in their new country. Starts with the arrival of Masuo Yasui in America in 1903.

"When twelve-year-old Waka's parents suspect she can't understand basic Japanese they speak to her, they make the drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been her summer vacation, Waka is plucked from her straight-A-student life in rural Kansas and flown across the globe, where she faces the culture shock of a lifetime. In Japan, Waka struggles...