Forty-year-old Empress Koken, exchanging her imperial costume for nun’s robes in 758, abdicates the Japanese throne in favor of a young cousin, who ascends the throne as Emperor Junnin.

She continues, however, to wield power, advised in this the ambitious Buddhist priest Dokyo, who becomes, presumably, her lover.

Junnin’s favorite and leading minister, Oshikatsu (Nakamaro), a member of the powerful Fujiwara clan, becomes jealous of Dokyo’s increasing domination of the government, initiating a political power struggle between the two.