Sixth year of the Kansei period (1494), Jippensha Ikkū, by then an unknown author, receives a commission from his editor: to create a guide that compiles the gastronomic specialties, the most select sakes and the most exquisite local products of the country. Thus begins a journey full of incidents in search of the gastronomic delights of each place, an adventure that would inspire him to write his famous Journey through the Tokaido, the masterpiece of Japanese picaresque literature.