Raja, the son of a rich man who was cheated of his wealth by Jambu, grows up in an orphanage. He becomes a famous poet in the city with the help of Jambu's family, unaware of his past.
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.
In 1911, Arnolphe Combalette left his corner of Provence to seek his fortune in the Americas. Fifty years later, a letter from him arrived in the village: "No, I'm not dead yet, but it won't be long now.