Yongdo, Korea, 1911. In a small fishing village on the coast of the East Sea, a fisherman marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The poor couple brings into the world a daughter, their precious Sanja.

Sanja's unexpected pregnancy at just sixteen years old by a married man brings the family face to face with humiliation. However, Isak, a young priest, gives her the opportunity to follow him to Japan and live together as husband and wife.

Sanja follows a man she has just met to a hostile country where she has no friends, no home, and cannot communicate with people as she does not know the language.

Thus begins the unique narrative of an immigrant family, spanning four generations and eight decades. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, the members remain deeply connected as they face issues of faith, identity, and continuous survival.