Akashi is a multigenerational coming-of-age love story told across parallel timelines. In the present, Kana, a struggling artist in Vancouver, flies back to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral. It has been ten years since she moved to Canada, and she feels out of place in her old home, caught between family expectations—her mother urging her to give up her dream and return home—and her own desires. While there, she unexpectedly reconnects with an old love, Hiro, rekindling feelings and tempting her to consider giving up her career to settle down with him. 

As Kana prepares for the funeral, she reflects on a secret her grandmother once shared with her: grandfather had another lover throughout his marriage. Kana’s present-day story intercuts with the past, revealing her grandfather’s decades-long affair with Wakako, the woman he loved in silence. The past and present collide when Kana tracks down Wakako in the present. Through this encounter, along with her renewed connection with Hiro, Kana confronts her grandfather’s hidden truths and reflects on her own choices about love, sacrifice, and artistic purpose.