Amidst the swirl of Tokyo's seamy nightlife of designer drugs, casual sex, and American slang, Zhou turns 30. It's a spiritual crisis for this Chinese immigrant who quotes Confucius, this Lothario and con artist who fences stolen goods. He falls for Kyōko, a seemingly shy provincial woman looking for the man who jilted her sister. As their relationship plays out, Hanawa intercuts stories of Kazuo, a hyperkinetic artist who loves the trendy Yōko (Kazuo bores her, and she pursues the indifferent Zhou), and Ali, a Pakistani Muslim who, broke and forlorn, stands outside a convenience store, love-struck by a clerk because she looked into his eyes (she thought he was shop-lifting)