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KANG Ho-chan is studying and preparing for his dream job as a TV station producer. Barely scraping by since his father's retirement, his family has high hopes for him. However, he fails time and time again to get into the station and eventually ends up getting a part-time job at a government office to support his family. One day, one full-time employee resigns and Ho-chan's boss offers him a permanent position. Ho-chan hesitates between his long-time dream of becoming a producer and a steady job. After thinking long and hard, he chooses to be realistic and take the offer, but someone else gets appointed for the job. Suddenly, Ho-chan gets left out in the cold and ends up back in a dilemma.

As the film begins, Takao (Akira Terao) and Michiko (Kanako Higuchi) have already pulled up their Tokyo roots and moved to a village that is Takao's ancestral home. They visit a thatched cottage that serves as a memorial shrine (amidado) for the village dead and chat with the attendant, the spry 96-year-old Oume (Tanie Kitabayashi). Together they admire the view -- from an inspiring distance. Oume, it turns out, is a kind of sage, whose thoughts and observations are a popular feature in a column in a local newsletter. Her amanuensis is a mute, sweetly smiling young woman named Sayuri (Manami Konishi), who is as devoted to Oume as Oume is to the souls of her beloved dead.

Tomonaga Akiyuki (Motoki Masahiro) and his wife Yu (Seto Asaka) have been married seven years. Akiyuki is a graphic designer, and is quite happy in his work and private life. One day, he attends the wedding of his younger half-brother Ichinose Ryo (Kaname Jun). However, Ryo runs off with a young woman who appears at the wedding, leaving the bride Jumonji Azusa (Okina Megumi) at the altar. Akiyuki bows his head and apologizes to Jumonji, and this is the prelude to a growing intimacy between them. Is it love, or is Jumonji after revenge? And what do Yu and Ryo think as they become aware of this relationship? Akiyuki and Yu, it seems, are headed for divorce. Further complications arise for Akiyuki and Yu when Akiyuki’s close friend Shunsuke (Sasaki Kuranosuke) and lawyer Reiko (Hada Michiko), advising on divorce, get involved. With a theme of loneliness, this deftly woven drama portrays adult love affairs that leave the viewer guessing who will end up with whom.