Komako (Hideko Takamine) is a confidence trickster who pretends to be an atom-bomb victim with keloids who is collecting money for charity but actually just has a burn scar. Junpei is a confidence trickster who is beaten up after falsely claiming there is a fly in his udon. They meet in a police station. Komako tells Junpei to get a proper job, then steals his money, food and clothes. Two children are abandoned by their aunt at Shimonoseki Station, and go with Junpei to Tokyo to find her, visiting many sites along the way, including the Kintai bridge, Himeji Castle and the Kurama Fire Festival. Junpei pretends to be a war victim, a blind man and a cripple to beg money but his begging often ends in failures. When Mariko gets a fever, no-one will treat her because of Junpei's appearance, until Komako helps. Eventually the children and Junpei get to Tokyo and find the aunt, but they decide to run away to find Junpei and Komako, who become a mother and father to the children.