A delightfully wry version of Soseki Natsume's satirical novel aimed at the foibles and pretensions of turn-of-the-century Japanese society. Tatsuya Nakadai stars as a frustrated academic, given to boring his cynical friends with lengthy diatribes on the meaning of life, out of place in the lively world of his students, and completely lost in the uncaring modernity of the Meiji-era nouveaux riches. Much of the activity surrounding him involves the romantic entanglements of his own family, including a beautiful niece played by Yoko Shimada. In a twist of black humor, Ichikawa reflects his tormented hero in the personality of his trusted pet, a cat with an acerbic wit who is also philosophical, and deeply vulnerable; the loss of his cat-next-door leaves him bereft and suicidal.