The eldest daughter of a rural family Mon (Machiko Kyō) returns home from Tokyo pregnant after an affair with a college student Kobata (Eiji Funakoshi), which causes a scandal that will threaten the marriage prospects of the younger sister San (Yoshiko Kuga), in her cash-strapped family. The ill-tempered eldest brother Inokichi (Masayuki Mori (actor)), decides to take on the role of disciplinarian, with harrowing results.