Puzzles, rules, and rituals - Dennis Gastmann sets out to explore Japan, a country that still seems incredibly foreign and mysterious. He is not alone in this journey: his wife Natsumi, who comes from a samurai family, accompanies him. Together, they travel across the entire island nation, from the green peaks of Hokkaido to the volcanoes of Kyushu, they pilgrimage to the temple city of Nikko and lose themselves in the dazzling lights of the metropolises. Gastmann experiences Japan as the West imagines it, amidst the neon storm of a Tokyo robot restaurant. In a bar in Kagoshima, he is marveled at as a foreigner: "We've been sitting here for thirty years," the drinkers tell him, "and never has a Gaijin dared to come in." Finally, in the "seven hells" of Beppu, known for its hot springs, he seeks tranquility and encounters a graying gentleman.