En el Japón feudal del siglo XII, los Taira y los Fujiwara son clanes que luchan por la supremacía. Mientras tanto, en el palacio imperial hay dos cortes: la del emperador en funciones y la de su predecesor.
This film stars Tanaka Kinuyo as the mother of the heir to the Hosho name, a famous lineage of Noh actors. The heir, Hosho Yagoro, is played by Hasegawa Kuzuo who went on to become familiar among Ichikawa Kon fans as Yukinojo in An Actor's Revenge, which was also co-written by Ito, adding to the relatedness of An Heir's Place.
Japón, mediados del siglo XIX. Kiyone Sakurai, aprendiz de forjador de espadas, entrega un arma a su guardián Onoda. Tras la muerte de Onoda a manos de Naito, su hija le pide a Kiyone que forje la espada que vengará la muerte de su padre. Kiyone acudirá a su maestro para que le ayude en la creación de un arma tan importante.
A self-absorbed young actor humiliates an elderly Noh performer, who then commits suicide. His act of cruelty compels his father to disown him, leading the once promising actor to a life on the streets. But his desire to win back the respect of his father and the affection of the dead actor's daughter pushes him toward a more noble existence. Naruse employed a delicately structured mise-en-scene in this family melodrama, which evokes the work of Josef von Sternberg.
