Kenji is a sixty-year-old Japanese journalist who has lived in Italy for many years. Having undergone some tests, he discovers that he is ill. In the meantime, the owner of the newspaper where he works entrusts him with a report on Japan, which he hasn’t visited in thirty years. Back in Tokyo and visiting his aged mother, Kenji is reminded of the sad story of Noriko, the once loved woman who waited in vain for his return until the day she died. One night, finding himself in a hotel room, the ghost of Noriko appears to him: the two reminisce about the happy times they spent together. The following morning Kenji leaves for Kyoto. His thoughts are further than ever from work. In the place where he is staying he meets his niece Yuki, a sixteen-year-old girl. A sudden complicity is born between them. They decide to take a little trip by car. After a rest by the side of a lake, the pair takes to the road once more, heading for the sea…