Based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra, the film is set in Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer, and a rickshaw man.

Pierre Richard-Willm
as Lieutenant Serge Polenoff

Sessue Hayakawa
as Ysamo, Kuli

Lucienne Le Marchand
as Namo

Roland Toutain
as Pawlik

Michiko Tanaka
as Kohana

André Gabriello
as Pô

Camille Bert
as Le commandant

Janine Darcey
as Une geisha

Foun-Sen
as Une geisha

Philippe Richard
as L'attaché russe