年事已高的老作家（小林佳树 饰），在一个寒冷飘雪的冬天，满怀深情地将对母亲的思念和对旧日时光的追忆写在了纸上：
在“我”（山中一希 饰）8岁那年，家道还颇为殷实，不苟言笑的父亲（财津一郎 饰）亲自掌管着家里的一切，“我”和兄姐们在母亲（乙羽信子 饰）的带领下协助父亲打理家务。但即便如此，家道仍不可避免地衰落下去。为了固守祖辈留下的山川和田地，父亲全力死撑，甚至牺牲了大姐的幸福（園みどり 饰）。然一切的努力都是徒劳，家道的败落成为不可避免的事情。只是年幼无知的“我”，还会因为无法得到心爱的玩具而对母亲大发脾气，全然不体恤拮据的家境和她日夜操劳且已万分疲惫的心……

根據 津輕 三味線大師 高橋竹山 (Chikuzan Takahashi) 生平改編。
二十世紀初, 日本 青森縣~ 高橋定藏 (Sadazo Takahashi, 林隆三 飾) 生於 青森縣 中平內村, 三歲時因為麻疹以致半失明, 被逼在小學時中途退學。
15歲時, 母親 (乙羽信子 飾) 把他送到 坊樣 (失明流浪藝人) 戶田重次郎 (Jyujiro Toda, 觀世榮夫 飾) 家中學習三味線和演唱。
定藏 17歲自立門戶, 在 日本 東北部和 北海道 當流浪藝人, 過著清苦的生活。母親曾兩次為他安排婚事, 第一位妻子 由美江 (Yumie, 島村佳江 飾) 隨夫登門表演時被侵犯, 定藏 勸她另覓歸宿; 第二位妻子巫女 富士 (Fuji, 倍賞美津子 飾) 亦因為 定藏 浪跡天涯而聚少離多。
30多歲時 定藏 入讀盲人學校, 卻被老師嫁禍指他令班上一位年青女生懷孕, 定藏 憤然摔破三味線, 帶著一枝尺八離家出走, 再次踏上孤身一人的流浪之旅。

The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.

A woman takes revenge on her husband after he leaves her for a younger woman by harassing the couple with unwanted phone calls at night.

In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.

日本小说家永井荷风（津川雅彦 饰）出身名门，但他生活放纵，最终被哥哥逐出家门。欧洲学成归来的他依然不改浪荡秉性，成日里周旋于各色女人中间，耽于描绘底层艺妓的生活，被同行所不齿。
57岁的永井某天感到才思和肉体的双重匮乏，于是外出来到玉井，在此邂逅了因阪神地震流落至此的私娼雪子（墨田雪 饰）。永井从雪子身上找回信心，并为之单纯的性格所吸引，而雪子亦决心委身于永井。两人相约成婚，永井却在当天失约。两人从此失散，至死未再重逢……

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

1964 Japanese film by Kaneto Shindō

Michio Yamada, a recent school graduate, is sent to Tokyo to work as a fruit-packer in a department store as part of a government programme. He takes a gun from a house on an American base and uses it to kill several people. The scene changes to Yamada's childhood. Yamada is born the child of a reprobate and a weak-willed woman. As a boy Yamada, experiences poverty and the rape of his sister at first hand.

A retired actress whose husband has recently died visits her summer home. There she has encounters with old friends and acquaintances who bring various stories and news of death and the past