Otani (Tadanobu Asano), a prodigiously talented writer, and his beautiful, faithful wife Sachi (Takako Matsu). While he is talented, his is a destructive lifestyle of heavy drinking, running up debt, and forming passionate relationships with women other than his wife.

In order to repay one of those debts, Sachi begins to work in a drinking establishment called “Tsubakiya’, where she quickly becomes very popular with the customers, and shines more brightly with every day that goes by. Among those drawn to her are a regular customer named Okada (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a fan of Otani’s writing, and the lawyer Tsuji, an old boyfriend who once abandoned her.

As Sachi becomes almost unrecognizably beautiful, Otani burns with jealousy. Brooding over both his writing and his way of life, he resolves to commit suicide with his lover Akiko (Ryoko Hirosue). Sachi, finding out about this…