their eldest son, kōichi (so yamamura), is a paediatrician, and their eldest daughter, shige (haruko sugimura), runs a hairdressing salon. kōichi and shige are both busy, and do not have much time for their parents. only their widowed daughter-in-law, noriko (setsuko hara), the wife of their middle son shōji, who was missing in action and presumed dead during the pacific war, goes out of her way to entertain them. she takes time from her busy office job to take shūkichi and tomi on a sightseeing tour of metropolitan tokyo.