Plot Summary

In the late Edo period, when traditional Chinese medicine (Kampo) was mainstream, a Dutch-style Western doctor, Taikichi, devoted himself to treating poor villagers. After saving the life of a rough young man, Shinzaburō, through surgery, the man turned his life around and began training to become a doctor himself. Fifteen years later, having studied the latest medical science in Nagasaki, Shinzaburō returns and joins Taikichi in confronting a suspected outbreak of typhoid fever. Set against the backdrop of a time when Kampo and Western medicine competed for legitimacy, this moving historical drama follows the struggles of doctors who risked everything to save lives during Japan’s medical awakening.