In postwar suburban Tokyo, Shoji, a restless office worker, begins an affair with his colleague Chiyo, straining his marriage to Masako. As workplace gossip spreads and tensions grow at home, Shoji struggles with the consequences of his choices.

With the postwar workforce forgoing home for office, lustful glances are risked on the morning commute in this moving film. Chronicling a generation in search of distraction, Yasujirô Ozu contours the ennui of the young and restless, as they grasp at the ineluctable desires that shape a life.