While on a journey to visit their father, a banished governor, Zushio (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) and Anju (Kyoko Kagawa) are attacked, separated from their mother, Tamaki (Kinuyo Tanaka), and sold as slaves to an estate managed by the brutal Sansho (Eitaro Shindo). The children grow up as slaves on the estate, but when Anju hears a newly acquired slave singing song that mentions their names, they realize their mother may still be alive and make plans to find her.