How many generations must pass before we can truly call the land of our forebears our own?
And when does it cease to be ours, becoming only theirs—the land from which they came?
Zainichi explores this tension, at once metaphysical, personal, social, and political.

Between 1910 and the end of the Second World War, Korea was annexed by the Japanese Empire. Since then, Koreans and their descendants have formed Japan’s largest ethnic minority, known as Zainichi. Even today, out of fear of discrimination, many still conceal their origins.

After the death of his grandmother—the last family member born in Korea—a man returns to his hometown for her funeral, unannounced and uninvited. Now married to a Japanese woman, he has grown increasingly estranged from his relatives. Over the course of a three-day journey with his niece, he begins to see his family history in a new light, challenging both his quiet desire to assimilate and his sister’s fervent national pride.