Fallout from the Hiroshima bombing has given geisha Yumechiyo (Sayuri Yoshinaga) leukemia, leaving her less than six months to live. When young traveling actor Masaru (Kin'ya Kitaôji), wrongfully accused of murdering his father, takes refuge in her spa, Yumechiyo falls in love but does not tell him about her terminal condition. After Masaru flees to a remote island, Yumechiyo follows the actor across the snowy landscape and sea despite her rapidly deteriorating health.