Synopsis

Based loosely on the real life story of Makino Tomitaro, the father of Japanese botany.

A long-awaited baby boy was born at the end of the Edo Period in 1862 to a wealthy merchant family that runs a brewing business in Kochi Prefecture. He would later become the gifted botanist Makino Mantaro (Kamiki Ryunosuke). Raised by his grandmother Taki (Matsuzaka Keiko) after his parents passed away when he was young, Mantaro loves plants for some reason and adults consider him a curious child. When he is older, Mantaro goes up to Tokyo for the National Industrial Exposition in Ueno. He gets to meet natural historians whom he admires and see precious plants from every region of the country as well as rare plants from overseas. This experience ignites his passion for botany and desire to identify all plants in Japan. Mantaro starts working as an assistant at Tokyo Imperial University’s Department of Botany where he immerses in research. He discovers one new species after another and gives them scientific names. In addition, he falls head over heels in love with Sueko (Hamabe Minami) whose mother runs a confectionary store. They get married and enjoy a happy life blessed with children. However, Mantaro has to deal with harassment by a group of professors who are jealous of his achievements. He also has to go through a rough time including being underpaid because he has no academic qualifications. Despite these challenges, he never loses his passion and single-mindedly presses on for the sake of the plants he loves and his dream of compiling a picture book of plans unique to Japan.