Tachibana Rin, nicknamed "Hanekonma" (
filly), grows up in
Sōma, Fukushima. Together she and her mother scrape up enough money for her to attend a Christian girls' school in
Sendai,
Miyagi. Though disowned by her father, she studies English and, after some early struggles, becomes a teacher. Later she marries and moves to
Tokyo. After her husband's business fails, and while juggling raising a family, she succeeds in becoming Japan's first female newspaper reporter. ==Development==