This film presents a contemporary Tokaido completely transformed from the scenery famously portrayed by Utagawa Hiroshige in the Edo Period: a landscape traversed by rail tracks and busy with cars coming and going. Heading west from Tokyo, we encounter the traditional industries that developed in the cities and localities along the highway, as well as the mechanical industries that arrived with modernization. The journey continues to Kyoto and Osaka

The Tone River flows from the Mikuni Mountains through the Kanto Plain. The film follows its path from its source to Choshi and into the Pacific Ocean, documenting the lifestyles and industries along its banks and the history of its management.

In the mountains of the Chubu region, farmers grow legumes, buckwheat, and millet. Silk cultivation and forestry are also important sources of income. Paper production has flourished since the Meiji Period, and precision-instrument factories have been built for assembling lenses and timepiec- es. The natural environment is harsh but beautiful, and a local tourist industry has also developed.

The farming villages that exist throughout Tohoku are known for their rice production but struggle with cold-weather crop damage. Many who rely on the single crop this land produces end up leaving their villages to earn money. At the same time, innovative work has progressed with im- proved adaptation of rice beds to the environment. The film also features people who have cleared land for dairy farming and regions where large-scale land reclamation projects have been undertaken.