Tells the story of three generations of the Hayakawa family, beginning in Kitigawa, southeast of Tokyo. Their lives are shattered by Pearl Harbor and its aftermath; Yasujiro, a doctor with a penchant for pacifism and nudity, does not survive. His son Shoji, maimed physically and emotionally, becomes a physicist and moves his young family to Milwaukee. He dies of cancer, leaving an embittered wife and two sons – Toshi, the crazy one, and Kei, the lean, clever one, who takes off for Toronto and a career as a rock musician.