Pachinko

Korea under Japanese annexation. Sunja grows up in a fishing village, falls pregnant by the married gangster Hansu, refuses to become his mistress, and accepts marriage from the pastor Isak. The couple emigrates to Osaka.

Sunja and Isak settle with his brother's family in Osaka. Anti-Korean discrimination intensifies. Isak is arrested for refusing to bow at a Shinto shrine and dies in prison. Sunja raises Noa and Mozasu alone.

WWII years and postwar Japan. Sunja survives the bombing. Noa excels academically, harboring ambitions to escape his Korean identity. Hansu reappears to ensure their safety. The family's economic struggles intensify through wartime scarcity.

Noa gains admission to Waseda University — a nearly impossible achievement for a Korean student in this era. He falls in love with Akiko, a Japanese woman. Then he discovers Hansu secretly funded and arranged his entry. His identity collapses.

Mozasu builds his pachinko business. He marries, has a son Solomon, and is widowed when his wife Yumi dies. His pragmatic acceptance of Korean-Japanese identity contrasts entirely with Noa's self-erasure.

Solomon, Mozasu's American-educated son, returns to Japan to work in finance. He discovers that his Korean-Japanese identity is still a liability regardless of his credentials. He falls in love with Phoebe, a Korean-American woman.

Sunja travels to find Noa, who has been living under a Japanese name for over a decade. He has a Japanese wife, a daughter, and a new life built on erasure. When Sunja arrives, Noa commits suicide.

The novel closes with Sunja visiting Mozasu's pachinko parlor in the 1980s. Solomon's fate is left open. Sunja watches the balls drop. The machine runs. Four generations have passed; the game continues.