Hana marries young into Benkiku, a catering shop in Nihonbashi Horidomecho, Tokyo, and lives through the upheavals from wartime to the postwar years. Drawing on his own family background, Yukio Aoshima portrays the joys, sorrows, humor, and resilience of ordinary people in a downtown neighborhood.

Set in a lively downtown catering shop, the novel follows Hana as she meets turbulent times with wit, nerve, and warmth.