The story is based on the bohemian life of the painter and poet Yumeji Takehisa (1884- 1934), décadent and romande womanizer, typical of the life of artists of the 1920s and 1930s.
Yumeji dreams he fights a duel.
He goes to the lakeside of Kanazawa, where he is supposed to meet his lover Hikono. She doesn’t come. Sounds of gunfire are heard.
He meets Tomoyo, who is looking for the corpse of her husband Wakiya, killed by a jealous husband. Yumeji and Tomoyo become lovers. Wakiya’s spectre is on the prowl, and challenge Yumeji to a duel. The bad dream turns into reality. Then comes Gyoshu Inamura, a painter, rival of Yumeji.