The Nohara family relocates to rural Akita Prefecture after Hiroshi receives a sudden work assignment near his childhood hometown. They settle into a traditional farmhouse in a small village, where grandfather Ginnosuke teaches young Shinnosuke how to catch bugs and fish, and family evenings revolve around the sunken hearth and Akita cuisine. Then one morning, the family dog Shiro appears covered in soot—and bolts. Shinnosuke chases him down and stumbles onto a mysterious train that carries him to Coal Town: a lively, thriving settlement frozen somewhere in the Showa era. He meets a strange young girl and the workers of Coal Town, and a whole new adventure begins.