This is a movie about the American dream as seen through the Japanese experience. In the early 1900’s, Japanese women came to Hawaii as mail-brides to marry young and wealthy sugar cane farmers. When they arrived, they found that their expectations were not met. They suddenly realized that they were trapped into life as a farm laborer and were married to a husband who was neither young or wealthy and was a farm laborer as well. The movie deals with the trials and tribulations of this life: seeking the means to return to Japan, living in a marriage without love, and coping with the hardships of working as a farm laborer.