Yasuko (Yoshiko Tanaka), a young Japanese woman, is in Hiroshima when the U.S. Air Force drops a nuclear explosive on the city. Despite the destruction all around her, Yasuko manages to escape unscathed, and, as other survivors fall ill with radiation poisoning, she is able to stay healthy. But later, when Yasuko goes to live with her uncle Shigematsu (Kazuo Kitamura), who tries to help her start a new life, she finds herself unable to escape the social stigma of radiation sickness.