After the American Civil War, a young man from Maine takes a diplomatic position in Nagasaki, Japan, where he and his aide, Harada, explore the city and absorb its history and culture. There, they befriend the lovely geisha Cio-Cio and attend her wedding to the American naval lieutenant Pinkerton. When they discover the marriage is nothing but an empty sham, devastating consequences inexorably follow...

Derived from Puccini's grand opera, Butterfly deftly retells the tragic story of the young geisha and her seducer as a captivating story of discovery, tragedy, and enlightenment.