Bu Su

After a traumatic incident, 18-year-old Mugiko (Yasuko Tomita) departs her Izu island village, leaving behind her mother, a famous former geisha. Mugiko goes to live with her aunt, who runs a geisha house in the Kagurazaka district of Tokyo. Once she arrives, Mugiko chooses to enroll in geisha training as her mother once did, while also attending high school in the city. She is given the geisha name "Suzume" by her aunt. Her decision, however, is met with a number of obstacles. She begins her training at the lowest level, only allowed to serve drinks to the customers. After angering her aunt with her lack of ability, Mugiko is further demoted, made to run behind the carriages that move the geishas from event to event.

Mugiko's school life is similarly troubled. Her timid and private nature leaves her isolated from her peers. Tsuda (Masahiro Takashima), a handsome classmate and boxing enthusiast, is the only person Mugiko interacts with. A popular fellow classmate, jealous of Tsuda's attraction to Mugiko, peer pressures Mugiko into performing for their school's centenary cultural festival. Despite her reluctance, Mugiko decides to perform the climactic scene of Yaoya Oshichi, a kabuki play based on the story of a teenage girl who committed arson to be reunited with a boy she loved. With the help of her aunt and a mentally impaired girl whom she saved from bullying, Mugiko prepares for her performance and begins to open up to the world around her.