[1] Young ama diver Noe (Yukiko Shimazki) falls in love with the town's new lighthouse attendant/school teacher Nishida (Ryō Ikebe), who recently moved in from Tokyo.

The couple's love is scorn by the locals and the two are split apart by Riu (Yuriko Hamada), a former ama diver, who returns from Tokyo after 2 years.

The two women try to settle their score by diving to retrieve the legendary Dai nichi ido pearl, said to bring about true love, however, the locals fear it is cursed and should be left undisturbed.

[2] In their biography of Honda, film historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski note that the film features characters that challenge the status quo, noting that Nishida's arrival triggers conflicts paralleling "Japan's universal post-war identity crisis", stating, "old traditions versus modern thinking; doubts about arranged marriage and feudalistic customs; a generational gulf between conservative adults and liberated youths; the emergence of assertive, independent-minded women; pastoral virtue versus urban decay."

Honda and Motoki chose to adapt Katsuro Yamada's prize winning novella Ruins of the Sea as the basis for the film.

[4] Toho gave Honda three months to scout locations and conduct research on the Ise-Shima area due to the post-strike slowdown.