The upper-class Toda family celebrates the 69th birthday of their father Shintarō with a commemorative outdoor photoshoot. Shortly after the photo session, the father suffers a fatal heart attack. After his death, his eldest son Shin'ichirō announces that, as their father had acted as a guarantor for a company which has gone bankrupt, they must help pay off that company's debts. The family sells off all their late father's properties and valuable possessions, leaving only an old house by the sea. Meanwhile, the mother and the youngest daughter Setsuko go to stay with Shin'ichirō and his wife. The unmarried second brother Shōjirō takes the opportunity to move from Japan to
Tianjin, China (which had been occupied by Japan during the
Second Sino-Japanese War). The mother and Setsuko do not get along with Shin'ichirō's wife Kazuko and go to stay with Chizuko, the married eldest sister. However, Setsuko's plans to go out to work are met with vehement objections from Chizuko, who finds the idea disgraceful since they are an upper-class family. Chizuko also clashes with the mother over Chizuko's son, who has been playing truant from school. Instead of accepting the offer of Setsuko's second sister Ayako to live with her and her husband, Mrs. Toda and Setsuko decide to move out to the unsold and dilapidated house by the sea. Ayako and her husband are privately relieved at not having to take them in. On the first anniversary of the father's death, the family comes together for a ceremonial gathering. Shōjirō arrives in time for the family dinner and is shocked to learn that his mother and Setsuko are staying alone by the sea. He strongly reprimands his brother and his sisters for not doing their part as children and urges them to leave the gathering at once, which they do. After dinner, Shōjirō invites his mother and Setsuko to stay with him in Tianjin, to which they agree. Setsuko tries to arrange a marriage between Shōjirō and her unmarried friend Tokiko, who has come for a visit, but Shōjirō runs off to the beach before she can get them to meet. ==Cast==