Opens with a journalist reporting on the 1997 Kobe earthquake, as he remembers a trip made as a young boy. Then, he and family took a boat trip from Awaji to Beppu in order to bury the ashes of his elder brother, killed in the just-ended WWII. The lad spends much of the trip trying to talk his elder brother out of running away. They encounter an array of characters on the journey. Most prominent among them a black marketeer who, like the elder brother, feels that the "new ways" can only benefit him, and work against the boys' father, who is strict and traditional. 濑户内月光小夜曲。濑户内海的轮船上。喜欢两段配乐。“一想到你的俊脸，我就不能自拔”。。 阪神大地震使得神户废墟遍布，大火冲天，面对新闻报道，不禁令恩田圭太（长冢京三饰）忆起50年前的少年往事。 二战结束不久，父亲恩田幸吉（长冢京三分饰）坚决要妻子（岩下志麻饰）和孩子们一起将战死沙场的长子忠夫的骨灰带回九州老家安葬，更叮嘱三子圭太（笠原秀幸饰）誓死保护挂在颈上的骨灰壶。战败后的日本美国大兵出没，动乱不堪。幸吉对外说是全家旅行，可是邻居们却深信他们全家会自杀。次子恩田光司（鸟羽润饰）认为旧时代已经过去，处处与父亲顶撞，光司暗地里打算在途中离家而走。此时，光司偶然遇上在空袭中痛失双亲的少女雪子（吉川日奈饰），彼此一见钟情。夜晚，在濑户内海的轮船上，他们思考着各自的问题。
