77-year-old volunteer probation officer Chikako Nakamoto was affectionately known as 'The little old lady of Motomachi' by the juvenile delinquents she took care of for 30 years in the Motomachi district of Hiroshima. She opened up her home to them, served her hand-made cooking, listened to their stories, and helped many of them to reform their ways. Last November, however, Nakamoto reached the year of retirement for volunteer probation officers. She often says, "Support from the local community is essential for the rehabilitation of offenders". The program closely describes her daily life as she strives to entrust her role to the community.

This special drama is set in Kurogimachi, a mountain village in southern Fukuoka Prefecture, with a beautiful river and tea fields as far as you can see. The heroine is Hikari, a young temporary teacher who has been transferred to Kasahara Elementary school located deeper in the mountains in the second term of the school year. She is put in charge of the 6th grade class. One of the pupils, an exchange student called Aya, has been at the school for several months but has not been able to adjust to either the school or her host family and won't open up to Hikari. Hikari discovers that Aya has a problem with her mother who works in Hakata. Hikari herself lost her mother before she was able to resolve her ill feelings towards her, so she tries hard to bring a smile back to Aya's face. In the meantime, the day of the school's traditional puppet show is approaching. Hikari decides to help Aya and her mother by working on the show that depicts the affection between a mother and a daughter whose ways somehow or other never cross.