Downtrodden office drudge and mother Mariko Kondo is awash in the lonesome sea of her life until a chance encounter with a handsome tomboy clerk at a second-hand bookstore sparks wistful memories of her adolescence, rousing her slumbering desire in the process. With an unfamiliar frisson of passion building inside her, Mariko struggles against this newfound overwhelming need, unable to tamp down the confusion and elation of her dormant sexuality stirring to new life.