The mythical adventures of the legendary Chinese trickster Monkey, who must outwit a variety of wily demons who stand in the way of him and his fellow Buddhist travelers. Though portrayed as a literal, if rather anthropomorphized, monkey in the original legends, this film substitutes the spindly comic actor Norihei Miki, sans makeup.

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of poverty.