Tokyo, December 1931
As Japan expands its empire in China and unemployment ravages the economy, Police Inspector Kenji Aizawa receives an anonymous call about the imminent assassination of a leading statesman – the aristocratic Baron Onishi. The secret informant is Reiko Watanabe, geisha mistress to the plot’s mastermind.
Headstrong and outspoken, Reiko prefers a “modern” life to being a geisha and is horrified that her lover, the American-educated descendant of samurai, Masaru Ryusaki, has become a fascist firebrand. Together with his allies in the Imperial Army, Ryusaki plans to overthrow the civilian government and establish a military dictatorship.
Torn between honor and duty, Reiko and Inspector Aizawa must forge an unlikely alliance in order to protect Baron Onishi, staying one step ahead of Ryusaki and a fanatical Army officer – Lieutenant Hajime Nakajima. All the while, they uncover a shadowy conspiracy that reaches into the upper echelons of government, international finance, and even around the Imperial Throne itself.