Jirou Tenge, the second son of a once-influential Japanese family, returns home after serving as a POW in an American camp during the Second World War. He discovers his family has been corrupted by the war's devastating social aftermath. His elder brother, determined to preserve what remains of the family patrimony following the Government's forced land reallocation, has prostituted his wife to his father to secure his blessing. Meanwhile, other members of Jiro's family have fallen into similar corruption, and he himself is being forced to spy for the Americans after being broken as a POW. Now, the family's youngest daughter, Ayako, must bear the brunt of the family's sins.