It is 1855, the year following the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States and Japan. 26-year-old samurai Ibuya Manjiro succeeded his father and has been serving at the Hitachifuchu domain's residence for four months. He trains more seriously than everyone else to the extent that he gets on the wrong side of the other samurais. On the other hand, Tezuka Ryoan, a doctor of Western medicine, distresses his father Ryosen who practices at a public clinic in the Hitachifuchu domain, because of his womanizing. One day, Manjiro who has joined the training hall of Chiba Shusaku, encounters trouble with his fellow pupils. He crosses swords with a senior pupil and sustains a severe gash after a hard fight. Ryoan visits a reluctant Manjiro in place of his father and stitches up the wound. While this is in fact his first surgery, he handles it with an unerring hand. The knowledge that Ryoan is also romantically interested in Oseki, chafes at Manjiro for he secretly loves her and vows to protect her chastity. But when Ryoan is attacked by a samurai, Manjiro promptly cuts him down. That person is none other than the senior pupil at Chiba's training hall. (Source: Jdrama Webblog) ~~ Adopted from the manga "Hidamari no Ki (陽だまりの樹)" by Tezuka Osamu (手塚治虫).