In Kyoto in 1944, poet Tomohiko Nagata meets Shizue, the wife of Kyoto University assistant professor Takeichi Naito, during a lecture. Drawn to poetry and classical literature, Shizue becomes Nagata’s devoted pupil, but their relationship gradually grows beyond that of teacher and student. As rumors spread among Kyoto’s literary circle and reach her husband, jealousy and resentment tear through the Naito family. For their daughter Momoyo, the affair becomes a painful shock, yet Shizue finds herself unable to give up her love for Nagata.