On January 16, 1995, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, a student at Shiokaze Elementary, devotes himself entirely to achieving top academic scores, often neglecting the people around him in his pursuit of perfection. A classmate named Miho wishes he would pay more attention to those close to him. Another classmate, Kazu, who lives nearby, is sickly and confined to bed. The next day, January 17, the 1995 Kobe / Hyogoken-Nanbu Earthquake strikes, killing over 6,000 people and leaving 300,000 homeless. Measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, it was the largest earthquake to hit Japan since the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. In the quake's aftermath, Tsuyoshi finds his priorities shifting. As he faces the death of one friend and helps another cope with a profound personal loss, Tsuyoshi is compelled to grow into someone who can no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering around him.
