In an astronomical observatory, images of the stars Vega and Altair are projected. A female voice tells the legend of two unlucky lovers who were condemned to live apart on opposite sides of the Milky Way. Once a year, however, on the seventh evening of the seventh moon, they can finally meet in the sky. Kenji is a sixty year-old Japanese journalist who has been living in Italy for many years. After having some medical tests done, he discovers that he is sick. Meanwhile, the editor of the newspaper where he works assigns him a story on Japan, where he hasn't been in the past thirty years. When he arrives in Tokyo, while visiting his elderly mother, Kenji remembers the sad story of Noriko, the woman he once loved, who waited in vain before her death for him to return. One night, in his hotel room, Noriko's ghost appears to him and the two remember the happy times they spent together. The next morning, Kenji leaves for Kyoto. His thoughts are increasingly distant from his work. In the inn where he is staying, he meets his sixteen year-old niece, Yuki and a friendship spontaneously arises between them. They decide to take a short drive. After a break along the shore of the lake, the two continue on towards the sea...