Schoolboy Kimitake is one of the last experts in the ancient calligraphic magic of hieroglyphs. He is sure that this tradition has long become useless, especially when the Second World War is raging around him, and he himself is graduating from the most prestigious school in Japan and is forced to hide even his passion for Russian culture. But the too loud girl Yoko and his new mysterious friend Yukio literally drag him into a hidden world secret societies, radical thinkers and dangerous vices. A world in which his art is absolutely necessary.