Natsuko Kayama, an authority in the beauty industry and once known as Miss Tokyo, is a first-class wife. Her husband, Senkichi, on the contrary, is a good-natured man and slow-witted. They are rarely seen together, and others often criticize them for being too boring and uninteresting.

Sumiko's father sends her to live with her alcoholic uncle. He sells her to a circus, which is the start of a downward spiral in an unforgiving world.