Qian li zou dan qi

For the first time in many years, Takata Gou-ichi (Takakura Ken) takes the bullet train to Tokyo from the quiet fisherman's village where he lives on the northwest coast of Japan. His daughter-in-law, Rie (Terajima Shinobu) had telephoned to tell him that his son, Ken-ichi (Nakai Kiichi) is seriously ill, and asking for his father.

But when he arrives in the city, Takata finds that Rie was not entirely truthful: Ken-ichi has been hospitalized, but after years of painful estrangement, he still refuses to see Takata. Crushed, the old man quietly slips out of the hospital, but not before Rie gives him a videotape to watch. What Takata sees on the tape, Rie hopes, will help him get to know his son again.