The Fireflies

Set in the 1860s, the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, The Fireflies focuses on Tose (Awashima Chikage), the mistress of the Teradaya, a small inn in the Kyoto suburb of Fushimi. She does not have an easy life. Her husband, Isuke (Ban Junzaburo), is a wastrel who fancies himself a kabuki singer and who is obsessed with cleanliness. Her mother-in-law, Sada (Miyoshi Eiko) dislikes her because of her humble origins (her family are farmers) and because she fears that she will inherit the inn instead of Sugi, her daughter. Sada's hopes for Sugi, however, are dashed when she runs off with a con artist and leaves her child behind for Tose to take care of. When Sada becomes seriously ill, it is Tose who nurses her. On her deathbed, Sada asks her daughter-in-law's forgiveness. Meanwhile Isuke spends most of his time with a mistress he has taken, forcing Tose to manage the inn by herself. One day a stranger appears in the Teradaya's kitchen. He is Sakamoto Ryoma (Mori Miki), the man who seeks to end the Tokugawa Shogunate and establish a democracy. He tells Tose that he is being hunted by the police and asks for shelter. Over Isuke's objection, she takes him in. Soon she finds herself attracted to Ryoma, but learns that he and her eighteen-year-old adopted daughter, Oryo (Wakao Ayako), have fallen in love. When officials come to the inn looking for Ryoma, Tose helps the couple escape. Later she is paid a visit by Tami, her husband's mistress, who claims to be pregnant with his child. Tose graciously offers to let her live at the inn. But Isuke tells Tose that Tami lied about the pregnancy because she wants the inn for herself. He also explains that he has broken off the relationship. Tose and Isuke reconcile, promising to treat each other better in the future. A few days later they read that Ryoma has been assassinated.