A remote village in the Tohoku region stops an express train from Ueno to Aomori and declares its independence from Japan. Around this small nation with its own language, currency, and institutions, a sweeping commotion unfolds across politics, economics, agriculture, medicine, and the military in Hisashi Inoue's long satirical novel.

A small village's declaration of independence exposes Japan's contradictions with laughter and fierce energy.