In a run-down Edo tenement, an elderly man (Rokubei) and his bitter wife (Osugi) rent out rooms and beds to the poor. The tenants are gamblers, prostitutes, petty thieves and drunk layabouts, all struggling to survive. The landlady’s younger sister (Okayo) who helps the landlords with maintenance, brings in an old man (Kahei) and rents him a bed. Kahei quickly assumes the role of a mediator and grandfatherly figure, though there is an air of mystery about him and some of the tenants suspect his past is not unblemished.