Daniel Wells begins a new life as an assistant junior high school teacher in the rural Japanese village of Tonoharu Isolated from those around him by cultural & language barriers he leads a monastic existence peppered only by his inept pursuit of the company of a fellow American who lives a couple towns over But contrary to appearances Dan isn&t the only foreigner to call Tonoharu home Across town a group of wealthy European eccentrics are boarding in a one-time Buddhist temple for reasons that remain obscure to their gossiping neighbors