The story is set on the U.S. west coast during 1935 when the U.S. economy was still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression.

It opens in a city, then moves to a rural cucumber farm, where the majority of the action takes place.

Most U.S. schools close during the summer, a throw-back to the days when children were needed to help with the annual harvest of crops.

The story centers on the life of a twelve-year-old female character named "Rinko Tsujimura," who is sent from her parents' home, in an unnamed California city, for a character-building stay on an aunt's rural farm.

There are no subtitles but the context is sufficient for those who do not speak Japanese to understand and follow the plot.