Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for pickling and preserving fish and sweet potatoes, Ichiko begins reaping rice and recalls her departure five years before.

Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice planting and sakura, and she begins to think of leaving Komori behind again.

Aiko and Meri are best friends. But they are to be apart in the next spring, because Aiko is going to Tokyo to attend the university there. In their home town, they meet various people. A bus driver looking for his runway daughter. A young man who can not decide what he should do about his job and marriage. A middle-aged housewife who doesn't see the meaning of their marriage life anymore..

A string of brutal murders takes a bizarre turn of events when newly transferred student Ryouko begins to see ghosts roaming the school hallways.