In 1888, the Japanese student Toyotaro met the ballet dancer Elis, a girl from a humble background, in the streets of Berlin. It is his great love. Together they experience the unequal couple months of happiness until Toyotaro is caught up by his former life. He is offered the prospect of a great career and is urged to return to Japan. But meanwhile Elis is pregnant! In the conflict between his love and the voice of reason, Toyotaro has to make a decision "A Japanese Werther" The world "Like Mori Ogai's recent interweaving of madness and death, his story is a revelation like few others. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.