In a remote village where mirrors have never been seen or invented, a young man named Shosuke lives a hardworking and humble life. He is well-known throughout the village for his deep devotion to his parents. The local lord hears of Shosuke's filial piety and summons him, offering to give him any reward he desires. Shosuke declines any money or luxurious items, stating that his only wish is to see his deceased father one more time.

Touched by this request, the lord hands Shosuke a small wooden box containing a mirror. Having never seen a mirror before, Shosuke opens the box, looks into the glass, and sees his own reflection. Because he bears a striking resemblance to his late father, Shosuke genuinely believes the lord has magically placed his father's spirit inside the box. Overjoyed, he takes the box home and hides it. Every day, he secretly opens the box to smile and talk to "his father."

Shosuke's wife soon notices her husband sneaking away to look inside a hidden box and smiling to himself. Suspicious, she waits until Shosuke leaves the house, finds the box, and opens it. When she looks into the mirror, she sees her own reflection—a woman. Furious, she assumes Shosuke has brought a mistress into the house and hidden her in the box.

When Shosuke returns, a massive fight breaks out. Shosuke yells, "That's my father!" while his wife screams, "No, it's a woman!" The commotion attracts a local Buddhist nun who steps in to mediate the dispute. The nun takes the box, looks into the mirror, and sees her own bald head and religious robes. She turns to the arguing couple and tells them to stop fighting, explaining that the person in the box has repented for causing so much trouble and has shaved their head to become a monk.

Inside a dark, closed candy box, two sweets sit next to each other: a square, soft caramel and a round, hard candy (amedama). The caramel initiates a conversation by boasting about its modern appeal, bragging that it is soft, milky, and the favorite treat of children today. The hard candy takes offense and fires back, boasting about its own beautiful, colorful appearance, its traditional charm, and the fact that it lasts much longer in the mouth than a quick-melting caramel.

The disagreement quickly escalates into a full-blown argument. The two candies begin shouting at each other, causing a massive commotion inside the box. They rattle and crash against the walls—gachagacha, batabata—trying to prove physical dominance. The other sweets inside the box are drawn into the chaos, watching the two rivals fight fiercely to determine who is the absolute best candy in the world.

Right at the climax of their intense, life-or-death argument, the lid of the candy box is suddenly lifted. A human hand reaches inside. Without a second thought, and completely unaware of the grand debate that was just taking place, the human simply pops both the caramel and the hard candy into their mouth and eats them. Their bitter rivalry ends instantly as they share the exact same fate.

A king rules over a prosperous kingdom, but he is hiding a terrible physical deformity: his ears are long, furry, and shaped exactly like the ears of a donkey. To keep this hidden from his subjects, he wears a large, heavy crown that covers his head completely, and he never takes it off in public.

The only person in the entire kingdom who knows the king's secret is the royal barber, who has to remove the crown to cut the king's hair. The king threatens the barber with severe punishment if he ever breathes a word of the secret to anyone. The barber agrees, but the pressure of holding in such a massive secret begins to take a physical toll on him. His stomach aches constantly, and he feels like he is going to explode from the stress of not being able to speak.

Unable to endure the silence any longer, the barber runs away from the castle and goes deep into an empty, isolated forest. He digs a deep hole in the dirt, leans his head into it, and screams at the top of his lungs, "The king's ears are donkey ears!" Feeling immensely relieved, he fills the hole back up with dirt and returns home, thinking the secret is safe.

However, a patch of reeds sprouts from the exact spot where the barber buried his words. Sometime later, a shepherd passes by and cuts one of the reeds to fashion a flute. When the shepherd blows into the flute, it doesn't play music; instead, it magically sings the words, "The king's ears are donkey ears!" The wind blowing through the remaining reeds echoes the same phrase. The secret quickly spreads on the wind and through the music across the entire kingdom. The king's secret is exposed to everyone, but instead of mocking him, the citizens accept him as he is, and the king realizes he no longer needs to hide in shame.

The story begins simply by showing a delicious-looking slice of strawberry cake on a plate. Next, the narrator is introduced. Then, the narrator introduces her good friend, a young girl named Hoshi-chan. Following this, Hoshi-chan's pet cat, named Dono-chan, enters the scene.

Instead of a traditional plot, the narrative builds sequentially by chaining these elements together into increasingly long descriptive sentences. The girls and the cat sit together in a peaceful, quiet room, getting ready to enjoy the slice of strawberry cake. The scene is perfectly set for a cute, relaxing afternoon snack.

Suddenly, the calm atmosphere is shattered when a massive, terrifying insect crawls out into the open. The quiet tea time is instantly ruined. The narrator, Hoshi-chan, and Dono-chan the cat all panic, completely abandoning the strawberry cake as they react in pure terror to the giant bug, bringing the story to an abrupt and chaotic end.

Gyu, an international student from China, arrives in Japan and goes about his daily life, observing the people around him. As he walks through the city streets, the first thing he notices is the sheer number of people wearing white surgical masks. He watches commuters, shopkeepers, and pedestrians going about their day with their faces covered. He questions why so many people wear masks even when they are completely healthy, noting it as a uniquely Japanese habit that puzzles him.

Next, Gyu observes the women in his surroundings. He notices that wearing makeup isn't just for special occasions or specific age groups. He watches young women commuting to work and then sees elderly women—even grandmothers who are 80 years old—wearing full makeup to go outside. He learns that in Japanese society, applying makeup is often considered a strict rule of public etiquette and grooming for women, which contrasts sharply with what he is used to.

Finally, Gyu visits a Japanese home. He stands in the genkan (the entryway) and observes the rigid rules of the household. He watches as people immediately take off their shoes, turn them around, and line them up perfectly before stepping up onto the elevated floor of the house. He reflects on how strictly this boundary between the "dirty" outside and "clean" inside is maintained. Having documented these specific observations, Gyu concludes his thoughts on how fascinating and surprisingly different the everyday culture of Japan is compared to his own.