In the late 1960s, in the shadow of the Vietnam War, Neil Chase, a young man yearning to travel, risks everything to take a journey by freighter and see the world. He arrives at a rural Japanese village famous for its pottery, but he soon realizes that things are not perfect in this seemingly idyllic spot. The town and its residents hold secrets hidden for centuries, each with their own different cross to bear. Chase falls in love with a beautiful potter's daughter who lives across the river; she too has a secret she's determined to hide. As Chase learns the ceramic craft and becomes ever closer to the potter family, he discovers that even good intentions can be as destructive as bad ones, that it is easier to make mistakes than undo them, and that no voyage allows you to return unchanged.