Map of the Sounds of Tokyo

Nagara complains to his assistant about the way he has to entertain clients, a disturbing ritual that includes sushi served off naked bodies. During the tense moment, a phone call informs him that his daughter Midori has killed herself, and he immediately blames David. Ishida vows to handle the situation and secretly hires Ryu to murder David.

Ishida selects Ryu, a woman who works in a fish market, to carry out the hit on David and assigns her to the mission. He pressures her to proceed, underscoring the seriousness and secrecy of the task. This marks the start of the planned murder.

The unnamed gray-haired sound engineer is introduced as the film's narrator and keeper of the recording. He records Ryu and becomes enthralled with her, yet cannot coax her to reveal her life story. He also records her visits to gravesites, hinting that the graves belong to people she has been paid to shoot.

Ryu enters David's wine shop where he propositions her. They go to a love hotel and become intimate. Ryu cannot bring herself to shoot him while he sleeps, beginning her inner conflict between duty and desire.

Ryu thinks of David all day as she works at the fish market, unable to shake him from her mind. She tries to return the murder money to Ishida and call off the killing, but Ishida threatens her, keeping the plan alive. Her personal feelings clash with the mission.

Mr. Nagara slowly deteriorates as the weight of Midori's death and the failed control over his life grows. His business life falters and his health declines under the emotional strain. The powerful CEO becomes increasingly isolated.

David grieves Midori's death while the assistant explains Midori was a vengeful person seeking her father's attention. The revelation reframes David's relationship with Midori and adds a layer of tragedy to the story. It introduces doubt about whether Midori ever truly cared.

Ryu and David have sex again, first on her day off and then during her work week, deepening their dangerous bond. She plants a recording device in his shop to monitor his moves and overhears him discussing selling the shop and moving back to Spain. The discovery raises the stakes of their relationship.

The assistant asks about David's supposed new girlfriend, but David insists he has no girlfriend and dismisses Ryu as nobody. He also expresses a longing to talk to Mr. Nagara, revealing unresolved tension with the father-figure and the broader tragedy.

Ryu contemplates ending her life with her gun, torn between love for David and her lethal duty. The thought underscores the depth of her internal conflict and sense of futility.

David goes to the fish market to say goodbye to Ryu, and their farewell is tender and heavy. Ishida arrives with a gun, and Ryu shields David, taking the fatal shot that ends her life. The hit is completed, but at a tremendous personal cost.

The gray-haired sound engineer looks on as he cleans Ryu's grave, offering a quiet, reflective epilogue to the tragedy. The camera lingers on the grave as the movie closes, leaving the audience with the sense of lives ruined by secrecy and ambition.