Shingo Sekine

What was once a superlative varsity baseball coach is now a jaded middle-aged man. He and a former student meet and the older man discovers that his now married pupil is afflicted with terminal cancer. Full of regrets of how he once treated the student the man ponders how to make it up to the man whom he once coached

In July 1945, during the end of World War II, Japan is forced to accept the Potsdam Declaration. A cabinet meeting has continued through days and nights, but a decision cannot be made. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. General Korechika Anami is torn over making the proper decision and the Emperor of Japan worries about his people. Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki leads the cabinet meeting, while Chief Secretary Hisatsune Sakomizu can't do anything, but watch the meeting. At this time, Major Kenji Hatanaka and other young commissioned officers, who are against Japan surrendering, move to occupy the palace and a radio broadcasting station. The radio station is set to broadcast Emperor Hirohito reading out the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.

Procurando terminar sua vida com honra, o indigente samurai Hanshiro pede a um senhor feudal para cometer hara-kiri no pátio de sua propriedade. Tentando ignorar o desejo de Hanshiro de salvar sua reputação, o senhor conta a trágica história de um apelo semelhante feito há anos por um jovem ronin.