As the conflict in Viet Nam escalates, army brat Ken and his hot-headed dad are suddenly deployed from Pennsylvania to a dinky post in Japan. Culture clash is just one of the many sucker punches that knocks Ken's world upside down. He struggles as his assumptions about friends and enemies, loyalty and betrayal, and love and manipulation are fractured. An army misfit, a Japanese girl and a martial arts master play unforgettable roles in Ken's rocky journey from a boy itching to get his driver's license to a young man standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his father.