The action takes place in the thirties and ends in the spring of 1941. The sisters of Makioka belong to an old family. Once their surname was known to all residents of Osaka, but in the twenties the financial situation of Makioka-father shook, and the family gradually became impoverished. Makioka had no sons, so in his retirement, retiring from business, he transferred the leadership in the house to the husband of Tsuruko's eldest daughter, Tatsuo. After that, he married the second daughter - Sachiko, she and her husband Teinosuke founded a lateral branch of the genus. The husbands of the eldest daughters, being the youngest sons in their families, took the surname Makioka. By the time the third daughter, Yukiko, had reached marriageable age, their home affairs were already declining, so her father could not find a good party for her. Soon after his death, Tatsuo undertook to grab Yukiko for the heir to the wealthy Saigus family, but his sister-in-law refused flatly to the groom, considering him too provincial. Since then, Tatsuo has been wary of tackling her fate. The youngest of Makioka’s sisters, Taeko, fell in love with the offspring of the ancient merchant family Okubat at twenty and ran away from home because, according to existing tradition, she would not have been allowed to marry before Yukiko. The lovers hoped to soften their relatives, but both families showed firmness and returned the fugitives home.

Unfortunately, one of the smaller Osaka newspapers made this story public, and mistakenly called Yukiko the heroine of the escape, which cast a shadow on her reputation and seriously complicated the search for a suitable game. Tatsuo insisted on a rebuttal, but instead the newspaper printed a revised version of the article, giving it the name Taeko. All this did not overshadow the friendship of the sisters, but their relationship with the elder son-in-law became more strained. Unmarried sisters either lived with Tsuruko in Osaka, or in the house of Sachiko in Asia, a small town between Osaka and Kobe, but after the story with the newspaper, both Yukiko and Taeko prefer to live with Sachiko.

At first, Teinosuke was afraid of the discontent of the “main house” - according to custom, unmarried sisters are supposed to live in the house of their older sister, but Tatsuo does not insist on this, and Yukiko and Taeko live in Asia. Okubata and Taeko still love each other and are waiting for Yukiko's marriage to ask for consent to their marriage. Taeko masters dolls and begins to do this professionally - she arranges exhibitions, she has students. Yukiko pays a lot of attention to her niece - the only daughter of Sachiko. The fragile, shy Yukiko looks very young, although she is already under thirty, and her relatives understand that she should not be too picky when choosing a husband for her.

At first, Yukiko did not have a hangover from the suitors, but now offers are being received less and less, and the sisters are seriously concerned about her fate. Itani, the owner of a barber shop in Kobe, wants to help the sisters of Makioka and is trying to get through Yukiko. Sachiko inquires about Segoshi, Ethani’s protege, consults with Tsuruko. Itani wants to quickly introduce Yukiko to Segoshi. After all, various secondary details can be clarified later. It is not necessary to arrange real weddings. Ethani will just invite everyone to dinner. In order not to drop their dignity, the sisters, on a specious excuse, postpone acquaintance with the groom for several days.

But finally everyone meets in a restaurant. Segoshi and Yukiko liked each other, but the fragility of Yukiko inspires the groom's fear: is she suffering from any ailment? Teinosuke, with the consent of the "main house," persuades Yukiko to undergo an X-ray examination. Itani assures him that this is not necessary, his guarantee is enough, but Teynoske believes that better clarity is better, in addition, if the matchmaking is upset, an X-ray may be useful in the future.In addition, the picky groom saw a barely noticeable spot above Yukiko’s left eye and would like to find out why. The sisters find an article in the women's magazine that says that such spots usually disappear on their own after marriage, but in any case they can be eliminated with medication.

Yukiko is being examined. A medical report is sent along with an x-ray to Itani. Segoshi asks permission to meet with Yukiko again, after which he asks her hands. Ethani urges the family to answer, but the “main house”, not content with the information received from the detective agency, decides to send a trusted person to his homeland, who finds out that Segoshi’s mother is suffering from mental illness. The groom is denied. Sachiko gives Itani a gift in gratitude for the chores, Itani also promises to make every effort to correct her mistake and make Yukiko happy. Yukiko is not lucky: a year ago, a forty-year-old gentleman married her, having a lover, with whom he was not going to leave, he only wanted to get married so that this connection would not damage his reputation. Presenting exorbitant demands on applicants for Yukiko’s hand, Tsuruko and her husband obviously doom the case to failure, because a rare bridegroom with a wealth of those who are single for up to forty years has no secret vice or hidden flaw.

Taeko has a student from a family of Russian white emigrants - Katerina Kirilenko. Katerina studied at an English gymnasium in Shanghai, and her mother and brother are real Japaneseophiles. In their house, portraits of the Japanese imperial couple hang in one room, and portraits of Nicholas II and the Empress in the other. Katerina invites Taeko to visit with her sisters and son-in-law. Yukiko remains to look after her niece, and Teinosuke and Sachiko accept the invitation and, together with Taeko, come to Kirilenko’s house. Russians have dinner later than the Japanese, so guests at first can not understand anything and suffer from hunger, but then they are tasty and generously treated.

Tsuruko’s husband is appointed director of the Tokyo branch of the bank, and the family must move to Tokyo. Everyone congratulates Tatsuo on his promotion, but Tsuruko suffers: it’s hard to leave the city where she lived for thirty-six years. Aunt of Makioka sisters comes to Asia. She says that while the “main house” was in Osaka, Yukiko and Taeko could live here and there, now they should go to Tokyo with their family, of which they are officially members. If unmarried sisters-in-law remain in Asia, this could adversely affect Tatsuo's reputation as head of the house. Tsuruko asks Sachiko to talk with the sisters. Yukiko dutifully agrees to move to Tokyo, but misses Asia: Tsuruko has six children, the house is cramped, and Yukiko does not even have a separate room. Having received a new offer, Yukiko immediately agrees to the bridegroom, because this gives her the opportunity to go to Asia. The new bridegroom, Nomura, is a widower. Before arranging a show, Makioka finds out what his wife died from, make inquiries about whether there was any hereditary ailment causing his children to die. The search agency provides them with accurate information about Nomur’s income. Sachiko doubts that Nomura will like Yukiko: in the photo he looks even older than his forty-six years, but the bridegroom is an occasion for Yukiko to come to Asia.

Yukiko has not been to Asia for six months now and is very pleased to meet her sisters and her beloved niece. During the watch, Nomura talks with Teinosuke, showing full knowledge of all the affairs of the Makioka family: he obviously made inquiries about Yukiko wherever he could, his man even visited a doctor who used Yukiko and a music teacher who gave her lessons. After visiting the restaurant, Nomura invites everyone to his home for a cup of coffee. Yukiko does not like that he brings guests to a niche with photographs of his late wife and children - she sees this as the callousness of his nature. Nomura is refused.Yukiko spends more than a month in Asia, and Sachiko is already afraid of the discontent of the “main house”, but in mid-April, having traveled to Kyoto to enjoy the sakura blossom, Yukiko returns to Tokyo.

Okubata comes to Sachiko and tells that Taeko takes sewing lessons, intending to become a milliner. To do this, she is going to go to Paris for six months or a year. Okubata believes that making dolls is not shameful, but a girl from a decent family should not have earned money by sewing. The sisters of Makioka do not like the spoiled barnacle Okubat, but then Sachiko agrees with him and promises to talk with Taeko. In addition to sewing, Taeko is engaged in traditional dances, dreaming of receiving a diploma that would allow her to open her own school in the future. At a concert hosted by the Osaka Daughters Society, Yamamura school students show their art, and a local photographer, Takura, who studied his craft in America, photographs them. A month after the concert, a flood occurs. Fortunately, neither Sachiko’s house nor the school where her daughter Etsuko is studying suffered, but Taeko, who turned out to be in the house of sewing teacher Noriko Tamaki, almost dies. Takura, risking her life, saves her. Yukiko hurries to visit sisters whom she has not seen for more than two months.

Sachiko’s neighbors are the German Stoltz family, Etsuko is friends with their children Peter and Rosemary. Sachiko hears how, during the game, the children of Stoltsev call the imaginary enemy "Frankraich" - France. She is shocked at how children are raised in German families. Soon, the Stolts returned to Germany. They invite Makioka to their place in Hamburg. Sachiko goes to Tokyo to conduct the Stoltsev and see his relatives. There comes a letter from Okubat, who writes that in her absence, Itakura too often happens with Taeko in Asia. Itakura is a native, he is not a couple for a girl from a good family. Sachiko worries about Taeko's reputation. Returning to Asia, she tells her about Okubat’s letter, Taeko and Takura agree not to meet for some time, and Sachiko promises Taeko that Teynosuke will discuss with her “main house” the possibilities of her trip to Paris. Teinosuke is afraid that war will not begin tomorrow in Europe, so a trip there is unsafe. Tatsuo and Tsuruko strongly oppose Taeko’s plans to become a milliner. As for her trip to Paris, Taeko’s desire to make it with the money earmarked for her wedding causes them bewilderment, because they don’t have any amount of money written in her name. In the case of Taeko's marriage, they are ready to take on wedding expenses, but they are not going to pay for her trip.

Taeko is disappointed, but it soon turns out that the plans of Lady Tamaki, with whom she was planning to go, have changed, and she alone cannot go. But Taeko does not give up sewing. She declares to Sachiko that she wants to marry Itakura. Comparing him to the empty and frivolous Okubat, she came to the conclusion that he was much more worthy and would be a good husband. She decides to terminate the engagement from Okubat. Sachiko is trying to reason with her sister, but the only concession Taeko is ready for is to wait until Yukiko is caught.

The Osaka Daughters host an evening of old dances again, and Yukiko arrives in Asia to watch Taeko’s performance. While Yukiko is in Asia, Taeko decides to go to Tokyo to talk with Tatsuo about the money she wants to open a ladies dress atelier. Sachiko rides with her. But even before talking with Tatsuo, Taeko finds out that Takura is seriously ill, and immediately leaves. Takura dies.

Yukiko lives in Asia for almost four months and does not talk about returning to Tokyo, but suddenly a letter arrives from Tsuruko. Her husband's older sister invites the Makioka family to Ogaki to admire the fireflies. At the same time, she is going to introduce Mr. Savazaki, a rich widower with three children, to Yukiko. This is the first proposal in more than two years since the matchmaking of Nomur.Tsuruko and Tatsuo do not really believe in the possibility of such an alliance, but they do not want to offend Tatsuo’s sister and are afraid of rejecting the bride to scare future suitors. Meanwhile, Yukiko is already thirty-three years old, and you should hurry. Unfortunately, Yukiko does not impress Savazaki. For the first time, a young lady from the Makioka family finds herself in a rejected position.

After the death of Takura, Taeko again begins to meet with Okubata. Mat? "Okubyat died, the elder brother kicked him out of the house for embezzlement of family money, so now he lives alone. Taeko assures that he is meeting with him simply out of pity. The" main house "requires Taeko to stay with them in Tokyo for a while, threatening otherwise to break off all relations with her. Taeko flatly refuses to go to Tokyo, and since Teinosuke takes the side of the "main house", she rents an apartment and settles separately and only occasionally visits Satiko and Yukiko when Teinosuke is not at home. Sachiko tells her that she met Katerina Kirilenko’s brother. It turns out that Katerina, who had left for Germany some time ago, has now moved to England and entered as an insurance company secretary: the company’s president fell in love with her, and they soon got married. European customs are similar to Japanese: “No, it just doesn’t fit in your mind - so that a thirty-year-old bachelor, the head of an insurance company, the owner of a luxurious mansion, marries The woman who entered his service only six months ago and of which he knows absolutely nothing! Yes, if Katerina was a hundred times more beautiful than she is, for the Japanese, for example, such a situation would be completely unthinkable. " Sachiko and Tsuruko are ashamed of unmarried sisters. They are not so meticulously choosing suitors. The prim Tsuruko says that she would be happy to pass Yukiko for anyone, even if from the very beginning it will be clear that the matter will end in divorce.

Itani has not forgotten her promise to find a groom for Yukiko and offers to introduce her to the director of a large pharmaceutical company, Hasidera. This is an enviable fiancé, and Yukiko’s relatives are happy about the upcoming bridegroom, but Yukiko was brought up in strict rules and her behavior seems to Hasidera, accustomed to greater freedom of treatment, offensive and arrogant.

Taeko gets dysentery. The illness catches her in Okubat’s house, and the sisters do not know what to do: she is in such a serious condition that it is impossible to transport her home, and it’s a shame to call their family doctor to the house of a single man. As Taeko is getting worse and worse, her sisters put her in the clinic of Dr. Kambara, who owes a lot to their father and treats them with great respect. Taeko begins to recover. Servant Sachiko O-Haru, while sick Taeko was in Okubat’s house, looked after her and made friends with his old housekeeper. The old woman told her that Taeko was to blame for many of Okubat’s troubles: both the money and jewelry that had disappeared from the store owned by Okubat’s trading house were often found at Taeko’s. Relations between Okubat and Taeko have been going on for ten years, and Taeko does not want to either completely break up with him or marry him, so the old woman believes that she is primarily interested in his money. In addition, the old woman had not once seen Taeko drunk and heard Okubata reproaching her with some unknown Miyoshi. Sachiko is horrified by this Taeko behavior: the best thing now can be done is to quickly pass her sister off as Okubat. Taeko leaves the hospital. Teinosuke had not seen Taeko for almost a year, but, realizing that such harshness would only push away the obstinate sister-in-law more, she still met her. Meanwhile, Okubata receives an offer to go to Manchuria to serve at the court of the emperor there. The sisters persuade Taeko to go with him, but she remains silent, and after a while reports that Okubata is not going anywhere.

Itani is going to America, but before leaving, she wants to make Yukiko happy.This time we are talking about the side son of Viscount Chirotic - Mimaki. After making sure that Mr. Mimaki is a worthy person, Yukiko’s relatives agree to meet with him.

The meeting turns into a real bride. Finally both sides are satisfied.

Taeko confesses to Sachiko that she is pregnant. The father of the unborn child is Miyoshi. Taeko’s egoism outrages Sachiko: confronting everyone with a fait accompli, she did not think about the honor of the Makioka family, nor about the future of Yukiko, who is in danger: her father’s father is unlikely to want to make friends with the family in which such a lechery has grown up. Sachiko tells everything to her husband. Teinosuke meets Miyoshi, who makes a good impression on him. He is not a man of their circle, but sincerely loves Taeko. He promises not to seek meetings with Taeko until she resolves herself from the burden. Taeko is sent incognito to Arima.

The “main house” agrees to Yukiko’s marriage with Mimaki. Yukiko also responds with agreement. Everyone is getting ready for the wedding. O-Haru calls from Arim with the news that Taeko has started giving birth and her life is in danger. Everyone understands that now is not the time to think about the reputation of the family, and Sachiko immediately goes to the clinic where Taeko is located. They manage to save her, but the newborn girl dies. Leaving the clinic, Taeko moves to Miyoshi.