The film starts in the rural town of Shinshū in 1923. A widow, Tsune (O-Tsune) Nonomiya (Chōko Iida), works hard at a silk production factory to provide for her only son, Ryōsuke. When Ryōsuke's teacher Ōkubo (Chishū Ryū) persuades her to let her son continue to study beyond elementary school, she decides to support her son's education even until college. Her son promises to become a great man.