In the ranching community of Nakashibetsu, nestled in the Konsen Plains of Hokkaido, Tamiko Kazami (Chieko Baisho) raises her only son Takeshi (Hidetaka Yoshioka) while taking care of cattle on the ranch that her late husband left her. One rainy spring night, a man visits the ranch and asks Tamiko if he could stay the night. One of Tamiko’s cows were giving birth so the man helped with that and left the next morning. However, the following summer, the man returns and introduces himself as Kosaku Tajima (Ken Takakura). He asks Tamiko to hire him and she agrees since she could use the help. Kosaku starts working at the ranch and sleeping in the barn. Takeshi becomes fond of Kosaku right away. Meanwhile, a nearby restaurant owner Abuta (Hajime Hana) forcefully makes a move on Tamiko, who he has had a longtime crush on. Kosaku steps in to interfere so an enraged Abuta comes back with his brothers to pick a fight against Kosaku. However, Kosaku easily defeats him, and from then on, Abuta treats Kosaku like an elder brother. When Tamiko is hospitalized because of her back pain, Takeshi sleeps next to Kosaku in the barn from loneliness. Shortly after Tamiko is released from the hospital, her cousin Katsuo (Tetsuya Takeda) and his new bride Kayo (Noko Konoha) visit the ranch for their honeymoon. A few days later, Kosaku’s elder brother Shunichiro (Mizuho Suzuki) also visits to check on Kosaku; he had been worried since Kosaku had been fired from his teaching job after causing an incident. That night, Kosaku confides in Tamiko that he wants to stay here. The season shifts to fall and the highly anticipated amateur horse races begin. Kosaku enters the race with Tamiko’s horse and finishes first. Tamiko and Takeshi cheer wildly and congratulate him. They don’t see the police officer in the crowd, who watches Kosaku intently.