The story of the silk industry and the young girls who worked as silk spinners in the early 1900s in Japan. The silk mills were located in Okaya which lies just beyond the Nomugi Pass. The women and girls worked in a hot, humid atmosphere without rest, and endured those conditions and sexual harassment to earn money for their poor families. Across the ocean, it was the great depression in America.

A tribute to proletarian author Takiji Kobayashi (1903-1933)

On June 24, 1969, Etsuko Takano, a 20-year-old third-year student at Ritsumeikan University, jumped in front of a train and died instantly. She left no suicide note, but did leave over a dozen diaries. This film is based on her writings.