The Taisho era. In Tokyo, the capital of the Empire of Japan, the streets are lined with stylish buildings—a mix of traditional Japanese and Western architecture. The people walking the streets are all fashionably modern. Young women wear brightly patterned hakama and kimono with ribbons fluttering in their hair. The men are split between Japanese and Western attire, ranging from those wearing traditional robes with quiet dignity to those sporting modern Western suits.

It is a well-known story in the capital: there are five men in Tokyo who are as active and formidable as fierce gods. Though their ages differ, they are always together and have remained close friends for a long time. Today, the five have gathered at a beef hot pot restaurant in Ginza. They sit in a tatami room, waiting for their meal to arrive. Inside the shop, the landlady and waitresses in red kimono and white aprons scurry among the customers taking orders.