Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual.
Despite the disagreement of their mother, the sons of old Taras Bulba are taken to the Dnieper camp on their return from a Kiev seminary, to teach them how to become real Cossacks.
A group of boys playing near the seashore in Tokyo find a goat, kill it in a tug of war for ownership, bury it with ceremony, and, except for one boy, run off in heedless laughter ready for more games.
Harry Brown is a somewhat rough and wild university student, who has the ability to win friends, especially the underdogs like Phil who doesn't play 'rugger' and can't sink a whole pint of beer, and African student Reggie.