Pachinko season 2 recap and ending explained

The second season of Pachinko revolves around Sunja and her family’s struggles during the Second World War, as well as Solomon’s efforts to achieve success in the late 1980s. All episodes are now streaming on Apple TV+.

Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers

Plot summary

In 1945, during the Second World War, Sunja and Kyunghee are raising Noa and Mozasu on their own, while Yoseb works in a factory in Nagasaki. 

It has been seven years since Isak’s arrest, and his family still does not know where he is or if he will ever return, but they, especially Noa, continue to wait for him.

The two women not only face daily discrimination but also struggle to make ends meet, leading to Sunja illegally making and selling rice wine on the black market. 

Sunja gets arrested, but Hansu uses his influence to secure her release. One of Sunja’s regular customers, Kim Changho, then reveals that he has been keeping an eye on her and Noa on behalf of Hansu. 

He takes her to meet Hansu, who warns her that Japanese cities are about to be bombed and offers to move her and Noa to the countryside.

However, Sunja refuses to leave without Isak, forcing Hansu to arrange for Isak’s release. Isak, weak and sick, reunites with his family but soon passes away due to sepsis. 

Sunja then introduces Hansu to her family as a family friend, and Hansu and Kim drive the family out of Osaka just before it is bombed. 

Hansu moves them to the countryside, where Sunja and Kyunghee work in the fields. He continues visiting to get closer to Noa, and Kim stays with them to protect them. 

Hansu also brings Sunja’s mother from Korea to reunite Sunja and her. As Hansu spends more time with her and her family, Sunja’s past feelings for him resurface. 

One day, she kisses Hansu, but then remembers her current circumstances and makes it clear to him that it is too late for them. 

Hansu vents his frustration by beating a foreman who had been stealing from his farm. Noa sees Hansu punish the foreman’s petty thefts with brutal force.

Noa had come to see Hansu as a father figure, but after witnessing his brutality, he stops admiring him, having been taught kindness by Isak.

Meanwhile, Kim becomes a part of Sunja’s family. Kyunghee and Kim develop feelings for each other and share a kiss in a moment of weakness. 

Shortly after, Nagasaki is bombed. Yoseb miraculously survives, though he suffers severe burns. Hansu finds him and brings him back to his family. 

Horrified by his injuries, Yoseb refuses to leave the house. He soon realizes that Hansu is Noa’s biological father and that Kyunghee is in love with Kim. 

Yoseb becomes a bitter man, only beginning to recover years later when Noa and Mozasu help him by encouraging him to step out of the house.

After the war, Sunja moves back to Osaka with her family, which now includes her mother and Yoseb. Kim also continues to live with them under Hansu’s orders. 

Five years later, in 1950, Sunja is seen running a food stall in the market. Sunja and her family save every penny to send Noa to college and open a restaurant. 

Noa is accepted to Waseda University, much to his family’s and Hansu’s delight. However, to pay for his expenses, Sunja must give up her dream of opening a restaurant.

Initially, Noa is reluctant to go to college if it means his mother will have to make sacrifices, but Sunja convinces him to go. 

Before Noa leaves for Tokyo, Hansu gifts him the pocket watch he had once given Sunja. In Tokyo, Hansu continues supporting Noa and meeting him frequently.

While Hansu gets to be a part of Noa’s life, he is slowly pushed out of his daughter’s life. His father-in-law arranges for his daughter to marry a rising politician, Kurogane, despite the mutual dislike between Kurogane and Hansu. 

By doing business with the Americans in the years following the war, Hansu and his father-in-law made a lot of money. 

Now that the Americans are leaving Japan, Hansu’s father-in-law plans to use Kurogane to maintain his influence and wealth. He even agrees to Kurogane’s demand that Hansu not attend his own daughter’s wedding.

This leads Hansu to join forces with Yoshii Isamu, a businessman who had been creating problems for their business, and have his father-in-law murdered. 

Yoshii Isamu’s grandson, Mamoru, would later play a crucial role in Solomon’s life, whose story runs parallel to the story of his family’s past.

In 1989, in Tokyo, Solomon is struggling to get people to invest in his business idea. Mozasu takes a loan against his new parlor, but Solomon refuses to accept money from him. 

With no job to support himself, Solomon is running out of savings. He becomes to desperate that he even seeks help from Abe Katsu, who shows him no mercy.

Solomon then meets Geumja and confesses that he got Yoshii Mamoru to terrorize her into selling her property. Solomon now understands how Zainichi Koreans are pitted against each other. 

Their conversation leads Geumja to reveal rumors about the Japanese military burying bodies on her land, which gives Solomon an idea to get revenge on Abe.

Solomon convinces her to sell her property to Abe and Colton for 1.4 billion yen. He gets his commission for facilitating the sale, but he wants more than that. 

After the sale, Solomon spreads rumors about the bodies buried on the land, making it impossible for Abe to build a hotel there. 

He also gets Tom to work with him to ensure that Shiffley’s cuts off Abe, who is now in debt. This allows Solomon to plan a golf course on the land with Mamoru.

While working on his plan, Solomon starts dating Naomi, only to find out that she has also been seeing another man whom her family wants her to marry. 

As a result, Solomon and Naomi break up. Solomon then uses information Naomi had shared with him in confidence to get her fired, as she was preventing Shiffley’s from calling off Abe’s loan. 

While Abe finds himself defeated and helpless, Solomon and Mamoru get the land for their golf course. Blinded by his desire for revenge, Solomon loses himself, feeling no remorse even as he destroys lives.

Ending explained:

The weight of one’s actions

In 1989, Sunja befriends a man named Kato Tatsumi, who does not discriminate against her. Kato brings excitement into Sunja’s life by introducing her to new experiences. 

However, Mozasu becomes suspicious of Kato’s motives and hires a private investigator to do a background check. 

Mozasu discovers that Kato not only served in the war but was also tried for war crimes. Kato and his unit were responsible for the murder of over a hundred American POWs. 

When Sunja confronts Kato, he admits to the killings and expresses deep regret. He claims that he was simply following orders and did not know better at the time. 

However, Sunja believes that the past cannot be forgotten, and she decides to end her friendship with Kato because of his past actions.

Mozasu is protective of both his mother and Solomon, who has finally succeeded in his endeavors by building a golf course with Mamoru. 

While Mozasu is proud of his son, he remains wary of Solomon’s partnership with Mamoru, with whom he has a complicated history that is yet to be revealed. 

Mozasu warns Mamoru to stay away from Solomon, but Mamoru has no intention of doing so. Mozasu’s concerns are valid.

Solomon later faces the consequences of his actions upon learning that Abe took his own life because of what Solomon did to him.

Decisions that will shape tomorrow

Back in the past, Kim decides to return to Korea to fight in the ongoing Korean War. Before leaving, he says goodbye to Yoseb.

Kim discovers that Yoseb is aware of his feelings for Kyunghee. Yoseb does not want to keep Kyunghee tied to him when she is in love with Kim.

He offers to divorce Kyunghee so she can be with Kim, but Kyunghee refuses to leave Yoseb and convinces Kim to go to Korea. 

Kim writes letters to Kyunghee from North Korea, but Yoseb hides them from her for over a year, preventing her from replying. 

Eventually, Yoseb gives the letters to Kyunghee, leaving her with the choice of either forgetting Kim or reconnecting with him and learning about his new life.

Meanwhile, Mozasu figures out a way to cheat the machines at the local pachinko parlor to win prizes. He gets caught by the owner, Goto, who is a customer of his mother’s. 

Goto complains to Sunja, but instead of punishing Mozasu, he convinces her to let Mozasu work for him at the parlor, promising to keep an eye on him. 

Recognizing that her son is more likely to succeed under Goto’s guidance than at school, Sunja makes an important decision about Mozasu’s future. 

She agrees to let him work at the parlor, where he encounters Yoshii Isamu and Mamoru, marking the beginning of their association.

A life-altering revelation

In 1951, Noa is in his second year of college. He is excelling academically and is dating a girl named Akiko Nakazono.

Akiko is curious about Hansu, but Noa refuses to introduce her to him. Hansu is a part of Noa’s life that he wants to keep hidden, not just from the world but also from himself. 

After his father-in-law’s death, Hansu forms a mutually beneficial relationship with Kurogane. Instead of marrying his daughter to Kurogane, Hansu uses his money to keep Kurogane on his side. 

Hansu intends for Noa to become a politician like Kurogane, but Noa wants to be a teacher. Their discussion about Noa’s future is interrupted by Akiko’s unexpected arrival.

Akiko’s disregard for Noa’s wishes to stay away from Hansu upsets him, leading to an argument. In just one meeting, Akiko realizes that Hansu is Noa’s father. 

Noa is finally forced to face the doubts he has always had about Hansu being his father. When he confronts Hansu, Hansu confirms his suspicions, turning Noa’s life upside down. 

Noa visits his mother, but it turns out to be a goodbye. He then drops out of college and moves to Nagano without telling anyone. He changes his name to Ogawa Minato, shedding his Zainichi Korean identity.

Despite Hansu and Sunja’s best efforts, Noa remains missing. Sunja blames herself and Hansu for ruining Noa’s life, leaving them both to cope with the loss of their son.


Also Read: Akiko Nakazono: Pachinko season 2 character explained

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