Set in the early postwar years, The Setting Sun probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. The story is told through the eyes of Kazuko, the unmarried daughter of a widowed aristocrat. When Kazuko’s mother falls ill, and due to their financial circumstances, they are forced to move into a cottage in the countryside. Her search for self-meaning in a society devoid of use for her forms the crux of a sad story.