The post-WW2 struggles of four fading Japanese beauties for whom the glamor of youth has passed; Kin has become a calculating cold-hearted money-lender, and even her best friends, fellow ex-Geishas Tomi, Nobu and Tamae, are in hock to her. She also has two former lovers pursuing her; one she wants to see and the other she doesn't, but when the former turns up he proves to be a great disappointment. Tomi and Tamae have children, but their relationships with them are troubled. Meanwhile Nobu and her husband own a restaurant frequented by the other three. Classic 50s Japanese cinema.