When Hanako Yuino (Mieko Konya) was a young child, her beloved mother, Minazuki (Sachiko Kokubu), suddenly passed away. Too young to understand what had happened, she simply imitated her father Katsuichi’s (Toshikazu Nunokawa) tearful expression; yet, upon seeing the smoke rising from the crematorium chimney, she somehow began to grasp the reality of her mother’s death. Subsequently, Katsuichi abandons Hanako at the children’s home where his late wife had served as director. Watching the marionette show performed by the director, Yasunaga, Hanako is drawn into a world of fantasy and undergoes a dramatic transformation. Then, 18 years later— Hanako, who has grown up retaining her innocent heart, spends her days performing her own puppet shows for the children at the children’s home where she was raised. One day, however, a vague memory of her mother suddenly appears in a dream, and Hanako gradually finds herself tormented by the harsh realities of life.
