In the dead of night, along the cold and fetid bank of the open sewer, a group of ragpickers go about their unsavory toils. After they have scavenged nothing but rocks and weeds, a sudden flash of light reveals a pile of silken garments - with a body wrapped inside. Callously they strip away whatever they can, but when the body moves, the ragpickers flee in terror.

It is Iris, sorrowful, cruelly hurt, and close to death. In her half-consiousness she hears the voices of Osaka, Kyoto and her father, each telling her that life is brutal. As the night ends, the first warm ray of sunlight touches her.

Extending her arms, Iris greets the sun, happy that this one most cherished friend has not abandoned her. The sun proclaims its eternal love, and as Iris dies, the scene is flooded with golden light. The desolate landscape is engulfed by flowers, upon whose leafy tendrils Iris's innocent, flowerlike soul is borne triumphantly to paradise.