Lyricism and visual beauty are evident in this film as four Issei (first generation Japanese Americans) describe a collective history through their personal memories. The filmmaker paints the canvas of their lives with lush imagery and testimonies of hardship and racism on both personal and institutional levels. In a moving scene, several Issei talk about the World War II evacuation, and in one pilgrimage, three generations pay tribute to the memories of those whose lives were forever imprinted with their experiences at the Manzanar concentration camp.