Soichiro Ishizuka, the head of a prestigious Tokyo textile company, lives a comfortable life with his wife and three daughters. Their current family focus is securing a good marriage for their middle daughter, Yuko, since their eldest has already wed the man chosen to inherit the family business. However, their domestic routine is upended when an old school friend arrives with somber news: another former classmate, now a ceramic artist in Kyushu, is terminally ill with cancer.