Based on a story by celebrated Japanese author Haruki Murakami, this visually poetic fable tells the story of Tony Takitani (Issei Ogata), a solitary technical illustrator. Raised as an only child and partially estranged from his father, Takitani is unaware of his own loneliness until he falls in love with Eiko (Rie Miyazawa). He soon marries her and comes alive for the first time. But Eiko's obsessive passion for couture leads to tragedy.