From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.

At the close of the war in Japan, a widowed mother makes every possible sacrifice to bring up her ungrateful son and daughter who are unimpressed with their poor standard…

A fishing union depends on two brothers to make up the losses caused by the dishonest captains they replaced.

When a family has to relocate due to the war, they are ostracized by their new community.

A jewelry store president begins to fall for the doctor treating her husband’s illness.

Iemon Tamiya is an impoverished masterless samurai who craves a better life, which he cannot have because of his marriage to Oiwa, who is completely devoted to her husband.

In the Meiji period, a schoolteacher tries to hide his lower-class upbringing as he supports a visiting liberal intellectual.

A Japanese war widow recalls her love affair with her deceased husband.