Against the backdrop of Japan's changing seasons, we meet Spin, a kitten rescued from the recycling bin, whose playful nature and simple needs teach an anxious father how to parent his own human baby; a colony of wild cats on a holiday island who show a young boy not to stand in nature's way; a cat whose undying devotion to their charismatic but uncaring father enriches a family; and an elderly cat who hatches a plan to pass into the next world as a spirit so that he and his owner may be in each other's lives for ever.