Steelhead is an illegal Chinese immigrant in Japan who comes to Tokyo to find his childhood sweetheart Xiu Xiu. He teams up with a group of Chinese workers who help him get a roof, some manual labour and sharing a tricks on how to survive living shadowy live. Life in Japan isn't easy; the Chinese work at odd jobs, but have to bolt every time the cops show up for an illegal worker raid. From other side, they are constantly oppressed by Japanese yakuza gangs. Soon Steelhead discovers that Xiu Xiu has adopted a Japanese identity and married Eguchi, an ambitious up and coming yakuza chief.