Hana no Ato is based on a short story by the late Shuhei Fujisawa (The Twilight Samurai, Love and Honor, et al.) The film stars Keiko Kitagawa as Ito, a member of a small clan in the Tohoku region. One day she meets a young swordsman of a lower social caste named Magoshiro (Shuntaro Miyao) and challenges him to a friendly duel with bamboo swords. The exhilarating match sparks feelings between the two, but Ito is already betrothed to another man and decides to put Magoshiro out of her mind and wait for her fiance to return from his studies in Edo. However, when Magoshiro is forced to commit seppuku due to the plotting of a cowardly noble, Ito decides to take it upon herself to seek justice.