Mikio is a male geisha brought up in a pleasure house where he masters the arts of calligraphy, song and conversation. Determined to rise up through the ranks of Japanese society, he must first secure a position with an aristocratic family.
He unquestioningly submits himself to all the demands, even the most base, of the handsome Lord Akana Fujiwara no Akimitsu. Between games of dominance and submission, he comes to love his strange master. But for the lord there is never any doubt that the preservation of his dynasty comes before all else, even love. And when Mikio meets Kaori, the lord’s younger brother, he is once again thrown into emotional turmoil.
Against the backdrop of the sumptuous lifestyle of 18th-century Japanese aristocrats, the delights of a visit to the imperial palace, and the ravages of an earthquake, Mikio faces with honour all the challenges thrown at him on the long and sometimes perilous road to happiness.