Said to be inspired by British photographer Felice Beato, who for a time lived in 19th century feudal Japan and married a geisha named O-kiku. The plot centers on his having abandoned her (in order to move-on with his professional work) and his eventual return in the mid-1890s, expecting everything to be as before. Of course now, six years on, O-kiku has long gone and the story follows Beato on a journey throughout Japan, notably Nagasaki and Yokohama where he hopes to find clues as to her whereabouts (specifically because those were the places where they both traveled). Only then does this Westerner come to know from their former friends, family and acquaintances what exactly his actions meant to the abandoned girl.
—Len Massaar