The tea house

After being molested by her uncle, Aurelia flees during a fire that sweeps Kyoto. Her fortunes change when she is taken in by Professor Shin, the city's most important tea master, and becomes his daughter's companion, for whom she harbors secret desires. Aurelia's struggle to fit into a closed and mysterious society reflects Japan's cultural shifts of the late 19th century. And as Western culture invades the country, the Shin family must find a way to perpetuate the tea tradition.