Mr. Baku, a sandwich man, was familiar to his neighbors because he was a natural friend of Ryotaro Yanaka. Yoshie, the sign girl of the coffee shop, is the lover of Douta Kuraishi, the manager of Cabaret Orion.
Minowada, a young teacher at a National People's School, has his own theory of education and the daughter of his linguistics teacher becomes drawn to him. Kayo, a strong-willed doctor, is also attracted to him. A mediator tries to arrange a marriage but just at that point Minowada receives military call-up papers.
In pre-war Shanghai, a man falls in love with a mysterious woman, but she eventually disappears. Back in Japan, he is obsessed by her memory and tries to recreate the world he knew then.
