In 1861, Hervé Joncour, a young French traveler, took a risky trip to Japan. It pursues the dream of silk, a material which Europe reverence and which is synonymous with the warmth of desire and the substance of love. But as usual, the perispecia is more risky than expected. The dangers that arise are embodied in a woman who with her charms can unravel the quiet life that the traveller has in his home with his wife Hélène.