A sixteen-year-old who had been living on her own since her mother died, frequently gets in trouble with the police. She gets sent to an "institute" for young girls in the countryside. There the residents grow their own food, cook and clean for themselves, and are taught language, music, and sewing. While there the young girl slowly begins to form friendships and come out of her shell.

Newly released from the army, five men return to Tokyo to find no place to live in the bombed-out city, food and necessities rationed out by people who don't care, and a thriving black market.