Chieri is a sixth grade girl whose only friend is a stuffed toy named Cherry, which she found while hiding in the cellar during her father's funeral. Chieri and Cherry undertake a journey on the border between fantasy and reality.

The 31st year of the Showa Era (1956) marked the tenth year since Japan's defeat in World War II. It was when Japan took its first step out of post-war poverty to rejoin the international community. In old downtown Tokyo, a teacher and her students try to pass down Doyo (Japanese traditional children's songs) as the root of Japanese cultural identity to the future generations.