Iemon Tamiya is an impoverished masterless samurai who craves a better life, which he cannot have because of his marriage to Oiwa, who is completely devoted to her husband.

In early post-war Osaka, three women—war widow Fusako, her Korean expat sister Natsuko, and Kumiko, Fusako’s sister-in-law—descend into prostitution, all for their individual reasons.

Tokiko patiently awaits her husband’s return from WWII when her four-year old son falls ill. She takes him to the doctor but has no means of paying, so she resorts…

A Japanese war widow recalls her love affair with her deceased husband.

Utamaro, a great artist, lives to create portraits of beautiful women, and the Tokyo brothels provide his models. A world of passion swirls around him, as the women vie for…

A gangster tries to find redemption with the inadvertent help of an innocent shop girl and his jealous girlfriend will do anything to keep him.