In 1971, the year after the Osaka Exposition, a girl called Nireno Suzume was born to the owners of a small eatery in a town in Gifu Prefecture's Tono region. She was a healthy child who ran around the hills and fields every day. But when she was a elementary school student, she ended up losing her hearing in one ear because of an illness. Her loving parents and childhood friend born on the same day at the same hospital were the ones who give her encouragement. After graduating from high school, Suzume sets her sights on writing manga for girls with her unique creative powers and leaves for Tokyo which is in the middle of the bubble economy. Put through training by her teacher, she tries hard to improve herself by learning from fellow assistants and devoting herself to studying but soon faces setbacks. Suzume gets married and has a daughter but the family finances are dire. She ends up divorcing her husband who is a dreamer. The bubble economy bursts before she realizes it and enters a period of low growth. After repeated failure, Suzume returns to her hometown as a single mother. What awaits her will become an unexpected turning point in her life..