"If you're innocent, surely there's no way they can find you guilty?"

Teppei KANEKO is a young guy, typical of many of his generation; he works part-time, hangs out in Tokyo and tries to figure out what life has in store for him.

He finds out the hard way. Finally getting his act together, he's on his way to his first job interview when he's accused of groping a young schoolgirl on the train.

He desperately pleads his innocence but the police are only interested in coercing a quick confession and closing the books. Before he knows what's going on his denials plunge him into a Kafka-esque world of bureaucratie precedent.

Being held in custody is a frustrating, brutalizing and lonely experience for Teppei. The prosecutor ignores his explanations of innocence and he's summarily arraigned for trail. In Japan judges are promoted for the speed with which they deal with their caseloads with a resulting 99.9% guilty rate. Belying its adoption of most aspects of modern democracy, Japan does not have trail by jury and presumption of guilt is reality in all but name.

Driven by the purity of his belief that innocence will save him, Teppei secures the services of veteran defense counsel, Mr. Arakawa (Koji YAKUSHO) and greenhorn assistant defense attorney, Ms. Sudo (Aska SETO). Sudo does'nt have the slightest desire to defend a groper but when Arakawa tells her that false accusations of molestation go to the very heart of the problems with Japan's legal system, she begrudgingly complies.

Meanwhile Teppei's mother (Masako MOTAI) and slacker best friend, Tatsu (Koji YAMAMOTO), form an unlikely alliance to organize on his behalf.

As his circle of friends and supporters gathers round, so too the noose of "justice" tightens and the power of the state moves against one young man who is about to have to grow up very fast.