Young Chiko is unaware of the meaning of war but as a Japanese national growing up in Japanese-occupied Korea during World War II she soon learns that soldiers on the battlefield are not the only casualties of armed conflict. From small inconveniences to the increasing scarcity of such vital supplies as clothes and medicine, as the Empire of Japan reaps the increasingly bitter harvest of a failing war effort, its children must suffer as well. Chiko\'s small family is rocked by tragedy after tragedy, losing friends and loved ones and sinking slowly into poverty as the unrelenting ravages of war continue. However, peace brings the greatest danger of all, for Japan has lost the war. Chiko\'s family finds itself completely abandoned, unwelcome strangers at the mercy of a country full of angry and vengeful victors. To make matters worse, Korea has been divided between the Allied victors and Chiko\'s family is in the northern half, where the Russian Army has already begun a ruthless search for former Japanese veterans. With their lives at stake, Chiko and her surviving family must embark upon an epic journey, joining with other survivors in a desperate quest for the perceived freedom of the U.S. Occupied Zone below the 38th parallel!