Abby is an American girl who goes to Tokyo to be with her boyfriend, Ethan. Ethan tells her that he has to go to Osaka on a business trip and may not be back for a while. Abby asks to go with him but Ethan refuses and breaks up with her. Abby goes to a ramen shop afterward, and the chef Maezumi and his wife Reiko tell her that they are closed. Abby does not understand them as she does not speak Japanese. She starts to cry, so the chef conveys to her to sit down. He brings her a bowl of ramen, and she loves it. A small distance away, she hallucinates that the lucky cat, known as the Maneki Neko, or Beckoning Cat, gestures to her to come over. She offers to pay for her meal, but the chef and his wife refuse.