The greatest attraction for two boys from the suburbs is their extravagant neighbours´ television set. But brothers Monoru and Isamu get it into their heads that they will have a television at home too. Because they find their parents rather unsympathetic to their pleas, the stubborn boys stop communicating with everyone, bringing trouble mainly at school. In the end the parents lead their experiment in silence to a happy conclusion. Ozu´s work, which in many ways draws on the film I was Born But…, features comic and "childishy naive" commentaries on adults´ professed morality and increasingly consumer lifestyles. As fans of the sumo wrestling they watch on screen, the children can´t see the sense in their parents´ courteous conversation, and thus initiate their own distinctive rituals.