Set in post-war Japan during the era of rapid economic growth, Kokuhō follows Kikuo Tachibana, a boy born into a yakuza family in Nagasaki. After his father, the head of the Tachibana group, is killed in a rival gang attack, the fifteen-year-old Kikuo attempts revenge but fails, leaving him with nowhere to go. His extraordinary beauty and natural talent for dance catch the eye of Hanai Hanjiro II, a renowned kabuki actor from the prestigious Tanba-ya house of Kamigata kabuki. Hanjiro takes Kikuo in as an apprentice, bringing him to Osaka and giving him the stage name Toichiro.

At Hanjiro’s home, Kikuo meets Shunsuke, Hanjiro’s biological son and heir to the Tanba-ya name. Despite their contrasting backgrounds—Kikuo rough and instinctive, Shunsuke raised in the strict traditions of the kabuki world—the two boys form a brotherly bond. They train together as onnagata, male actors who perform female roles, and grow into fierce rivals who push each other to greater heights. Their friendship and rivalry deepen as they begin performing as the duo To-Han, earning acclaim for their onnagata roles.

A turning point comes when Hanjiro is injured in a traffic accident and cannot perform. He chooses Kikuo to take his place as Ohatsu in The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, passing over his own son. Shunsuke, deeply hurt, runs away from home. Hanjiro later decides to have Kikuo inherit the title of Hanai Hanjiro III, but during the succession ceremony Hanjiro collapses and dies, calling out for Shunsuke. With the patriarch gone, Kikuo loses support within the kabuki house. His yakuza past and an illegitimate daughter with a geisha further damage his reputation, and he is forced out of the Tanba-ya and kabuki altogether.

For years Kikuo struggles, performing at small banquets and clubs. A chance return to the stage comes when the elderly Living National Treasure Onogawa Mangiku gives him an opportunity. Kikuo reunites with Shunsuke—who has also returned to kabuki—and they revive their partnership as the Han-Han duo, achieving great success. But Shunsuke’s health deteriorates from diabetes, leading to the amputation of his leg. Despite this, he insists on performing one last Ohatsu role. The performance is a triumph, but Shunsuke is near death.

Sixteen years later, in 2014, Kikuo is named a Living National Treasure—a kokuho. Shunsuke, posthumously, is granted the title of Hanai Byakko V. Kikuo, now an elderly master, continues to perform, driven by a search for an elusive “scenery” only he can see. The manga adapts Shuichi Yoshida’s novel of the same name, covering Kikuo’s lifelong journey from a yakuza orphan to the pinnacle of kabuki, exploring themes of talent, lineage, rivalry, and the sacrifices demanded by art.