On his wife Kaneko's 15th year death anniversary, Jigoro reminisces about their lives together. In 1934, Jigoro arrives from the countryside, having beaten 230 kumas (bears) in matches; after befriending an aspiring novelist, he arrives at the Kyuudou-kan Dojo, only to find the resident Ushio-sensei deceased and the dojo being run badly by the sensei's daughter Kaneko, with whom Jigoro falls instantly in love, because of unpaid debts from usury. Simonji, the rich creditor, has proposed marriage to Kaneko but is repeatedly rejected. Jigoro tries to run the dojo but runs off the remaining 2 students due to tough training methods. Jigoro is beaten up by hired goons from a rival dojo because he promised Kaneko he would not use judo to fight them, and Kaneko is forced to marry Simonji after he makes further implied threats. As the wedding ceremony is under way, Jigoro rushes to interrupt the ceremony a la The Graduate, using judo to defeat various opponents; however, Kaneko punishes him for breaking his promise by knocking him unconscious with a judo flip. Saimonji is frightened by Kaneko's display of power and falls into a fountain, ruining the paper debt contract. According to Jigoro, the novelist was Yoshinokawa Eiichi, who later published the classic Miyamoto Mushashi. Yawara objects to the story as a lie, as a different version had been told by Jigoro on the previous occasion, with a different cast of characters and literary references.
亡き妻・カネコの命日が訪れ、柔に昔話をする滋悟郎。若い頃に上京した滋悟郎は、心の師と仰ぐ憧れの先生の道場を訪ねるが、既に亡くなっていたのだった。しかし、その娘であるカネコと共に道場再建を目指し…。
