 Takada, a Japanese fisherman has been estranged from his son for many years, but when the son is diagnosed with terminal cancer his daughter-in-law, Rie, summons him to the hospital. When his son refuses to see him, Rie gives him a videotape about the work his son was doing on a documentary film in a remote region of China s Yunnan province. Still troubled by the relationship, Takada decides to complete his son s work in part to develop an understanding of his son, and in part to do something for him. Once in China a series of obstacles and relationships bring him unexpectedly closer to both an understanding of himself and of his son.