Michiko Ai

Yukiko's mother runs a lodging house for courtesans in Kyoto. When her fiance learns this, he ends their engagement. Yukiko despises what her mother does until one of her mother's clients shows interest in her and starts to woo her.

The story follows the life of Ryunosuke Tsukue, an amoral samurai and a master swordsman with an unorthodox style.

Disguised as a beggar monk, Ryunosuke's harrassed along the road by the rowdy members of a country dojo or fencing school malingering outside their fencing hall.