Kah-chan plot
The setting is Edo in the late Tempo Era (1830-44), while Japan is gripped by an economic depression after a series of failed government interventions. The strong matriarch Okatsu struggles to put her offspring of five on a path to financial survival, if not success. She also instills a strong moral sense in them, as evidenced by their collective efforts to save a friend of the eldest son from financial ruin. A tougher test, however, is the young thief, who invades her humble household and demands all her pennies destined for the bankrupt friend. Instead of calling out to her sleeping sons for help, she manages to talk the young thief around and takes him into the family. The thief, only on the wrong path because of his poor situation, struggles to keep the truth a secret from his new 'cousins' and especially his beautiful 'niece'.