Seisaku Kitabatake is father to Tomoko Kitabatake, a young girl living with relatives in post-World War II Hokkaido. His daughter fell mute after suffering wartime trauma. Their family home in the Japanese countryside, near a forest sheltering an escaped Chinese laborer, becomes the primary setting for Tomoko's experiences. There, she navigates her muteness and feelings of being an unwanted burden while forming an unexpected connection with the hidden fugitive through a shared Chinese lullaby.