눈이 내리는 작은 마을에서 1명의 소년이 모습을 감추고, 함께 있었던 형 시라카와 잇키의 기억이 애매해서 조사가 혼란스럽게 진행된다. 조사 선상에 다른 몇 건의 살인 용의가 있었던 쿠도 하나에가 주목되지만, 완전 침묵을 유지하는 하나에는 무죄로 풀려난다. 사건으로 부터 30년 뒤, 용의자 하나에의 외동 딸인 하유리를 찾게된 사건을 추적하던 기자 키다치 쇼코가 잇키 앞에 나타난다. 30년이라는 긴 시간이 흘러 만난 피해자의 형과 용의자의 딸. 마음의 상처를 안고 살아가는 둘의 만남은 예상외의 결말을 향해 한 발짝 다가간다.
Seizo, a doctor, and his beautiful younger wife, Reiko. At first glance, they appear to be a respectable and amicable couple, but Seizo suspects that Reiko has a young lover. One day, the couple goes to see a new Noh play, "The Curse of Ondine," organized by a medical association. At the venue, Reiko catches the attention of a man, and even the young man at the reception desk gives her a heated look. "Reiko says, "Noh is boring," but Seizo warns her not to fall asleep, since the audience is all related. However, when the Noh play begins and Reiko looks at Seizo, she finds that he is asleep. From this point on, the world of death in the Noh play and the world of life in which the two people exist become parallel. Reality and unreality intersect as if the two are acting out a Noh play, and the secrets hidden in their daily lives begin to seep out.
In the 12th century, Buddhism was still a relatively new religion in Japan. At that time, one school (Shingon) offered extensive training in complex and very demanding practices which might eventually bring about spiritual purification and realization. Various Zen schools offered students a lengthy path, literally composed of a blank wall and unceasing meditation. Yet another school (Tendai) emphasized complex metaphysics and the study of philosophical systems. Basically, all of them were designed to cater to the few who were able to give up everything else in their lives and focus on liberation, such as scholars and noblemen. In this historical and biographical drama, this is the situation that the young Shinran (1173-1263) discovered when he began exploring Buddhism as an alternative to the violence and ceaseless civil wars that racked Japan at the time.
