Boku (Edward Atterton), is a foreign student in Japan, who wants to assimilate with a polite Kyoto society but finds himself rejected as a outsider. Undaunted, he volunteers to read books to a young blind woman (Honami Suzuki) and begins to find acceptance with the beautiful Kyoko. She chooses classic Japanese literature for their sessions until one day she has him read a translation of a French love story. He understands this to be a confession of sorts and a love affair develops. This is however challenged by cultural misunderstandings and prejudice on both sides.